A routine vehicle inspection at the Donna International Bridge, near McAllen, turned into a major drug bust this week, as Customs and Border Protection officers seized almost 90 pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside an SUV.
The meth, valued at more than $803,000, was discovered during a secondary inspection of a 2008 Saturn Vue driven by a 26-year-old Mexican citizen. Officers at the Progreso/Donna Port of Entry became suspicious of the woman and directed the vehicle for a secondary screening on Tuesday, July 22.
They quickly found 84 tightly wrapped packages of meth stashed inside the car, according to the CBP, totaling 89.9 pounds.
CBP officers used K-9 units to find the hidden stash, which was immediately seized along with the vehicle. Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested the driver, and a federal investigation is now underway into the source of the meth.
“As summer travel traffic remains steady, our frontline CBP officers continued to apply their vigilance, experience and technology, resulting in this significant methamphetamine interception,” said Port Director Michael Martinez, Progreso/Donna Port of Entry. “Seizures like these exemplify our border security mission and prevent this poison from reaching U.S. streets.”
The bust comes as border officials continue to face growing challenges in intercepting drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl, which are often smuggled in increasingly sophisticated ways.
Earlier this month, CBP officers at the Pharr International Bridge found over $15 million worth of meth hidden in a shipment labeled as carrots, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The bust happened on July 10, when a tractor-trailer crossing from Mexico was flagged for a similar secondary inspection. Though the trailer was supposedly hauling carrots, imaging equipment, and K-9 units revealed 311 packages of meth weighing more than 1,700 pounds.
Just two days after the Pharr Bridge carrot bust, agents at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo uncovered nearly 75 pounds of cocaine hidden within a shipment of raspberries, with a street value of nearly $1 million.