CBP Officers, Agriculture Specialists in South Texas Seize Large Amounts of Narcotics, Currency, Inadmissible Aliens, Prohibited Items in First Three Quarters of Fiscal Year 2009
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Jul 21, 2009, 0 Comments
Courtesy Rick Pauza,
Laredo, TX – 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 the first three quarters of fiscal year 2009. Fiscal year 2009 began October 1, 2008 and the third quarter ended June 30, 2009.
In the first three quarters of FY 2009, CBP officers working at eight ports of entry extending from Brownsville to Del Rio seized a total of 79,029 pounds of narcotics worth $234 million, far surpassing the 60,062 pounds of narcotics seized during all of fiscal year 2008. They made those interceptions while processing 1.6 million commercial trucks, 18.7 million privately-owned vehicles, 51 million passengers and pedestrians and 63,176 commercial buses over the same period.
Marijuana seizures led the overall narcotics totals by weight. In the first nine months of FY 2009, CBP officers seized 73,880 pounds of marijuana, 4,496 pounds of cocaine, 88 pounds of heroin and 565 pounds of methamphetamine. CBP officers seized $23.6 million in unreported currency in the first three quarters on FY 2009, which is more twice as much currency seized in the entire previous fiscal year. Some large seizures and enhanced outbound examinations involving CBP officers, Border Patrol agents and ICE special agents have contributed to the increase. CBP officers also seized a total of 235 weapons, ammunition or weapons parts over the same nine-month period. CBP officers also arrested 1,115 wanted persons with outstanding warrants during the same period.
Besides narcotics, CBP in South Texas also reported results of its immigration and agriculture enforcement. CBP officers in the first three quarters of FY 2009 determined that a total of 16,241 non-U.S. citizens were inadmissible to the U.S. due to violations of immigration law. CBP officers processed a total of 361criminal aliens during the same period.
CBP Laredo Field Office in the first nine months of FY 2009 remains consistent in agriculture enforcement categories. CBP officers and agriculture specialists intercepted a total of 17,453 pests, keeping pace with last year’s totals. They also made 133,504 interceptions of quarantined plant and animal materials. If the officers and agriculture specialists maintain the same pace through the end of Fiscal Year 2009, CBP stands ready to surpass the 154,457 interceptions of quarantined plant and animal materials in Fiscal Year 2008.
Among the more notable CBP enforcement actions for the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2009 at South Texas ports of entry are the following:
On Feb. 3, 2009, CBP officers at Veteran’s International Bridge in Brownsville , Texas seized a load of 560 pounds of cocaine hidden within a shipment of cantera stone. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $18 million. The driver, Rigoberto Zuñiga Mata, 32, a Mexican citizen from Matamoros Mexico was arrested on federal drug charges in connection with this seizure.
On March 2, 2009, CBP officers conducting outbound examinations on a 1996 Ford F-150 pickup truck detected anomalies in the truck bed during a non-intrusive imaging system scan. Further inspection underneath the truck bed revealed multiple rifle and shotguns stocks and barrels that upon complete assembly yielded 25 rifles, two shotguns and a 9mm handgun. The driver, 30-year-old Abram Josiah Sprenger, a U.S. citizen from Bixby , Oklahoma was arrested on federal charges for unlicensed export of items on the U.S. munitions list.
On March 19, 2009, CBP officers conducting outbound examinations at Lincoln-Juarez Bridge in Laredo , Texas discovered $3,000,590 in the floor of a 1998 Dina commercial bus. No immediate arrest was made but an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents continues.
On April 11, 2009, CBP officers conducting outbound examinations at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo , Texas seized $1,000,035 in undeclared currency hidden under the mattress in the sleeper cab of a 1999 Freightliner tractor. The 26-year-old Mexican citizen driver, a participant in the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) trusted shipper program, was arrested on federal bulk cash smuggling charges.
On May 9, 2009, CBP officers at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge seized a load of 340 pounds of methamphetamines hidden in the floor of a tractor trailer hauling a shipment of carrots. No immediate arrest was made but an investigation by ICE special agents is continuing.
On May 13, 2009 CBP officers at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge seized 2,350 pounds of marijuana hidden in the floor of a tractor trailer hauling a shipment of mixed produce. A CBP canine had alerted to the floor. The marijuana has an estimated street value of $2.3 million. No immediate arrest was made, but an investigation by ICE special agents continues.
On June 19, 2009, CBP officers at the Veteran’s International Bridge in Brownsville , Texas apprehended Cresencio Rojas, 43, a Mexican citizen from Miami , Fla. a passenger on a commercial that had an outstanding Dade County , Fla. warrant for sexual assault, battery and lewd and libidinous acts against an elderly person. CBP officers confirmed the warrant and turned Rojas over to the custody of Cameron County sheriff’s deputies pending extradition to Florida .
“Our frontline CBP officers and agriculture specialists in the first three months of fiscal year 2009 have shown perseverance, vigilance and dedication to the CBP mission of securing our border and to prevent the entry of terrorists and weapons of mass destruction,” said Leticia Moran, Director, Field Operations, Laredo Field Office. “They have shown successes on multiple fronts including seizing in a nine-month period more than double the total amount of undeclared outbound currency seized in Fiscal Year 2008 with three months to go before Fiscal Year 2009 concludes. The partnership between CBP officers, Border Patrol agents and ICE special agents in the enhanced outbound inspections has certainly contributed to the overall outbound enforcement successes.”
