92 Pounds of Cocaine Seized at Interior Checkpoint 70 Miles from Texas Border

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents seized more than 92 pounds of cocaine at an interior immigration checkpoint. Officials estimated the drugs to be worth nearly $3 million.

Agents assigned to the Javier Vega, Jr. Immigration Checkpoint on U.S. Highway 77 observed a semi-tractor/trailer rig approaching for inspection. During an initial interview, a K-9 agent alerted to an odor near the trailer it is trained to detect, according to Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials. The agents referred the driver to a secondary inspection station.

During a physical search of the trailer, agents found 36 bundles of suspected drugs hidden among the cargo. Officials report the drugs tested positive for cocaine and weighed more than 92 pounds. They estimated the value of the cocaine to be $2.9 million.

The agents arrested the driver and seized the drugs. Both were turned over to Drug Enforcement Administration special agents for further investigation and possible prosecution for drug trafficking.

“Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation,” Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement. “The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.”

Breitbart Texas reports regularly about Border Patrol activities at and around the Javier Vega, Jr. Immigration Checkpoint. The checkpoint is named after slain Border Patrol Agent Javier Vega, Jr. who was killed by an illegal alien, Breitbart Texas reported. Initially, Border Patrol officials refused to classify Vega’s murder as a line-of-duty death. However, after an intense campaign and support from U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), then Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan later reclassified the murder as a line-of-duty death providing benefits to his family.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.