U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Laredo, Texas, seized over a ton of marijuana and some unwanted wood-boring pests in a shipment of wooden pallets.
The seizure of the drugs and bugs was made on April 20, but news of the load was not released until this week. A tractor hauling a trailer of wooden pallets was being hauled into Texas from Mexico across the World Trade Bridge in Laredo. This is the bridge visited last summer by Republican presidential presumptive nominee Donald Trump. Trump toured the cargo facility and met with CBP officials during a quick Laredo border tour last July.
The truck loaded with wooden pallets was directed into a secondary inspection area. The pallets were offloaded and processed through an inspection conveyance.
CBP officers discovered 2,788 pounds of marijuana hidden in the roof of the trailer. The load was valued at $557,675 by CBP officials.
At the same time, CBP agricultural specialists inspected the wooden pallets and found the presence of a significant quantity of live Buprestidae wood borers. The agriculture specialists routinely work alongside other CBP officers to protect the country from pests entering the U.S. The entry of wood boring pests that are not common in the U.S. could be detrimental to our national forestry industry, officials stated. These pests could cause millions of dollars in damage and in the cost of controlling the pests.
“Our frontline CBP officers and agriculture specialists at World Trade Bridge worked together and seized a sizable load of narcotics and intercepted a wood-boring pest all in one fell swoop,” Laredo Port of Entry Port Director Gregory Alvarez said in a written statement. “These dual interceptions underscore the importance of the border security and agriculture missions that CBP carries out on daily basis.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter@BobPriceBBTX.
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