HIDALGO, TX —U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Hidalgo and Anzalduas International Bridges arrested a North Carolina man and a woman from Austin, TX in two separate, unrelated incidents after discovering $999,000 worth of alleged cocaine and heroin in the vehicles they were driving when they arrived from Mexico.
“Keeping up with smuggling trends is crucial in our line of work and our officers certainly stood up to the challenge with the interception of these hard narcotics at two of our border crossings,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas.
Heroin and Cocaine Smuggling (Contributed/CBP)
On May 27, 2021 a CBP officer assigned to the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge referred a 21-year-old United States citizen female driving a Chrysler Pacifica for a more thorough examination which included the utilization of non-intrusive imaging (NII) equipment. Officers conducting the secondary inspection discovered nine packages of alleged heroin weighing 23.32 pounds (10.58 kg) and one package of alleged cocaine weighing three pounds (1.36 kg) concealed within the vehicle. The total value of these narcotics is $956,000.
Earlier that day, at the Anzalduas International Bridge, a CBP officer referred a 27-year-old man, a U.S. citizen also driving a Chrysler Pacifica for further inspection which resulted in the discovery of two packages of alleged cocaine hidden with the SUV. The cocaine weighed 5.5 pounds (2.52 kg) and is valued at $43,000.
CBP OFO seized all the narcotics, vehicles and arrested the man and woman, subsequently releasing them to the custody of agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as they continue with the investigations.
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