U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Border Patrol agents seized 169 pounds of methamphetamine, 90 pounds of heroin, 11 pounds of fentanyl, and 29 pounds of cocaine during the past week at five separate vehicle inspection checkpoints in California and Arizona.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued nine migrants from a stash house after stopping an attempt to move a separate group through an inland immigration checkpoint. During the raid, agents also seized a sawed-off shotgun and a package of methamphetamine.
United States Border Patrol agents carried out two separate arrests this week involving drug smugglers transporting large quantities of methamphetamine while utilizing children as a diversionary tactic. The two busts resulted in a total seizure of 225 pounds of methamphetamine valued at approximately $541,694.
Border Patrol agents hit a five-year high in the amount of cocaine and methamphetamine seized. The records come despite agents facing inundating numbers of Central American migrants at historic rates.
Increased immigration and security efforts by the Mexican government resulted in a decrease in illegal crossings in the United States, allowing El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents to return to capturing smugglers and previously deported criminal aliens.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 14 human smugglers and 26 migrants at interior immigration checkpoints and on roving patrols near the Texas border with Mexico.
Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 24 migrants and a wanted felon at and around a New Hampshire immigration checkpoint. The arrested migrants came to the U.S. from seven different countries. Seven of the migrants had been previously deported.
Border Patrol agents in the Yuma and El Paso Sectors seized methamphetamine and cocaine at interior immigration checkpoints recently re-opened after the downturn in illegal border crossings. Officials closed checkpoints in these sectors and others earlier this year to redirect resources to the border.
El Paso Sector Border Patrol officials re-opened all six of its inland security checkpoints following a decrease in illegal crossings and more Congressional funding. The checkpoints provide a substantial backstop to reduce human smuggling and the flow of drugs further into the continental U.S.
Border Patrol officials are re-opening many of the inland border security checkpoints following decreases in migrant crossings in June and July. The reductions also allow Border Patrol agents to return to other security missions.
Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to an inland immigration checkpoint uncovered a load of drug and human cargo about 50 miles from the Texas-Mexico border.
U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 41 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $1.3 million during a checkpoint vehicle inspection this past Wednesday. The inspection led to the arrest of a Mexican national on charges related to drug smuggling.
