CBP Officers, Agriculture Specialists in South Texas Seize Large Amounts of Narcotics, Currency Fake Documents, Prohibited Items in FY 2013
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Jan 23, 2014, Comments Off
Courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
(SOUTH TEXAS) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and agriculture specialists at eight South Texas ports of entry seized a significant amount of narcotics, currency, false documents, and uncovered numerous immigration and agricultural violations during fiscal year 2013. Fiscal Year 2013 began October 1, 2012 and ended Sept. 30, 2013.
CBP officers at eight ports of entry extending from Brownsville to Del Rio in FY 2013 seized 93,011 pounds of narcotics that carried a combined estimated street value of $358 million. Specifically, they seized 83,930 pounds of marijuana, 4,971 pounds of cocaine, 2,897 pounds of methamphetamine, 1,213 pounds of heroin, an alarming 104 percent increase over the amount seized in FY12, $7.9 million in undeclared currency, 52 firearms and 13,001 rounds of ammunition. They made those interceptions while processing nearly 2.8 million commercial trucks, 19.3 million privately-owned vehicles, 53 million passengers and pedestrians and 69,364 commercial buses at the ports over the same period.
South Texas CBP officers in FY 2013 determined that a total of 31,787 non-U.S. citizens were inadmissible to the U.S. due to violations of immigration law, a 13 percent increase over FY 12. CBP officers and agriculture specialists in FY 2013 intercepted a total of 16,987 pests. They also made 134,809 interceptions of quarantined plant and animal materials in FY 2013.
“Our frontline CBP officers and import specialists upheld our border security mission during FY 2013 and in the process seized a significant amount of narcotics, including a staggering 104 percent increase in heroin and also posted a significant increase in immigration law violations,” said Noel Sanchez Jr., Acting Director, Field Operations, Laredo Field Office. “CBP officers working in cooperative fashion with Border Patrol agents, Air and Marine interdiction agents and fellow federal, state, local and Mexican law enforcement partners through the South Texas Campaign continue to bring to bear a unity of effort toward securing the South Texas Corridor against transnational criminal organizations.”
