CBP Finds Almost 130 Pounds Of Meth Inside Two Cars At Texas Port Of Entry

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized almost 130 pounds of methamphetamine in two separate incidents at ports of entry in El Paso, Texas.

The agency detailed that the incidents took place during the weekend, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. In the first one, a CBP officer referred a vehicle for a secondary exam after a portal scan showed anomalies in a truck seeking to enter the U.S. Then a drug-sniffing dog alerted agents to the presence of drugs.

After a physical exam, agents located a hidden compartment and found 19 bundles of drugs from the front bumper. Overall, agents seized almost 80 pounds of meth, CBP claimed. The driver was arrested and turned over to the Texas Department of Public Safety. She will face state charges related to the smuggling attempt.

The second incident took place the next day at the Bridge of the Americas international crossing. There, another officer referred a vehicle for secondary inspection after spotting anomalies. After a dog confirmed the presence of drugs, officers found 40 bundles from a hidden compartment containing close to 48 pounds of meth.

CBP agents seized a similar amount of the drug less than a week earlier in California. The incident took place when Robert Anthony Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen, approached the San Ysidro port of entry from Tijuana. He told an officer he lives in Los Angeles and had gone to Tijuana to get his car fixed and to visit "girlfriends."

According to Border Report, the CBP agent noticed Rodriguez had a protective order filed against him. He was then sent to a secondary inspection area, where his car was put through an X-ray-like machine.

Another officer then noticed anomalies in the car's rear panels, prompting a call to a drug-sniffing dog, which indicated the presence of narcotics. Officers then found 108 packages of meth weighing some 123 pounds, according to the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Rodriguez was arrested and has a preliminary hearing set for early July.

Several such cases have taken place over the past weeks. In early May, CBP officers at the Eagle Pass International Bridge, one of the busiest border crossings in Texas, confiscated a shipment of methamphetamine valued at more than $3.3 million after finding the substance hidden inside a vehicle's floorboard.