EL PASO, Texas — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operation officers working at the El Paso, Texas port of entry seized 8.7 pounds of methamphetamine and 2.45 pounds of cocaine in one seizure Friday. The estimate street value of the seized contraband is $356,800.
“CBP officer noted the unusual behavior of the driver and took action,” said Hector Mancha, CBP El Paso Port Director. “The end result is that a sizeable load of cocaine and methamphetamine was stopped at the border.”
The seizure was made just before 6 p.m. Friday at the Ysleta international crossing when a 1999 Ford Contour driven by a 19-year-old female entered the facility from Mexico. A CBP officer at the primary inspection booth noted that the driver was nervous and selected the car for a secondary exam. The vehicle was scanned with the Z-Portal x-ray system which also showed an anomaly in the car’s rocker panels. CBP officers removed a total of 12 drug-filled bundles from the hidden compartment. Two bundles were cocaine-filled while the other 10 contained methamphetamine.
CBP officers arrested the driver of the vehicle. She is identified as 19-year-old Geraldine Hernandez Velasquez of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. She was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations special agents to face charges associated with the failed smuggling attempt.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.