In a total of 72 hours, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended 15 individuals with criminal histories and seized 170 pounds of drugs.
The chief of the CPB voiced his approval of the work accomplished by his agents on Twitter.
“Extremely Proud!” Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz wrote on May 27, listing the accomplishments the men and women in green had achieved in just three days.
During that period, law enforcement authorities seized 131 pounds of fentanyl, 26 pounds of heroin, and 13 pounds of methamphetamine, according to Ortiz. Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, has been a large contributor to the recent spike in overdose deaths across the country.
Agents also prevented 10 sexual offenders, three members of a criminal gang, an assassination suspect, and a fugitive wanted for murder from entering the country. These individuals were denied entry due to their criminal histories, Fox News reports.
Ortiz also said that agents encountered 18 large groups of unlawful migrants, increasing the grand tally of such encounters to 2,446 over the three-day period, Fox News reported. In addition, CPB participated in the water rescue of 22 different individuals during that time. Three agents were physically assaulted while on duty.
CBP detailed in a separate release how agents in Del Rio apprehended one individual on May 31 who had a previous conviction of sexual assault in Washington and another on June 1 who had an earlier conviction of statutory rape. The two were previously barred from entering the country.
Border officials tallied more than 234,000 unlawful migrant encounters at the southern border in April, NBC News reports. Officials are warning that these numbers could grow as the summer months approach, even though these high temperatures could be potentially life-threatening for those attempting to cross the border.
Alejandro Mayorkas of the Department of Homeland Security recently told Fox News that the already historic border-crossing numbers are likely to rise further while warning potential unlawful migrants to the United States not to come to the border.
Mayorkas appeared in the video just days after a Louisiana district court blocked the Biden administration from ending border expulsions under the Title 42 public health order. The Title 42 health order has been used to refuse migrants entry to the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.
