Two American citizens are in federal custody after border police said that they allegedly attempted to smuggle roughly $3,061,000 worth of methamphetamine into Texas. These two separate smuggling incidents took place at the Hidalgo International Bridge.
The apprehended suspects are a 20-year-old woman and a 20-year-old-man.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a press release on December 14, 2021, highlighting that the first incident occurred on December 10 when the female suspect tried to enter Texas from Mexico in a white Chrysler minivan.
Upon being flagged for additional security checks using non-intrusive imaging equipment (NII), border agents discovered 21 packages of methamphetamine weighing roughly 191 pounds.
The second incident took place on December 12, when the male suspect attempted to enter Texas from Mexico in a gold Chevrolet sedan. Through a canine unit and NII, border police found approximately 27 pounds of methamphetamine in 22 different packages.
According to The Texan, the Homeland Security Investigations division of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department is investigating these cases.
Carlos Rodriguez, the port director for the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry, made statements on the drug seizures.
“As the holidays get closer, we tend to encounter increased attempts to secrete narcotics loads amid heavier traffic volumes, and these two significant hard narcotics seizures perfectly illustrate that phenomenon,” Rodriguez observed
Per the CBP’s most recent operational update, border agents confiscated 16,040 pounds of methamphetamine that went across the U.S.-Mexico border in October, which marked a 41% increase from September.
In recent months, the Texas state government has made efforts to secure the border through a border wall project and an increase of personnel from the Texas National Guard, Texas State Guard, and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
According to email correspondence between DPS Press Secretary Ericka Miller and The Texan, the Texas government’s border security campaign, Operation Lone Star, has produced the arrests of thousands of criminals.
“Since [Operation Lone Star] began in early March, DPS has made more than 8,900 criminal arrests, including 2,165 for criminal trespassing. There have also been 7,038 felony charges filed. In addition, DPS has made more than 82,200 migrant apprehensions and referrals. These are through December 9,” Miller pointed out.