C.B.P. News Release

Border Patrol Seizes $1.6 Million Worth of Ephedrine Pills

(Thursday, October 01, 2009)

Blythe, Calif. - U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered a cache of more than a million dollars worth of ephedrine pills during a vehicle stop on Interstate 10 Wednesday evening.

Agents from the Blythe Station stopped a 2007 Ford Mustang near Blythe, Calif. on Interstate 10 at about 7:30 p.m. During the vehicle stop, the driver and passenger appeared extremely nervous and offered contradictory answers to the agents’ questions. The passenger eventually told agents that he was an illegal alien and that he had been smuggled into the country when he was about a year old.

After the driver and passenger were taken into custody, agents performed a routine inventory of the vehicle and found 19 plastic bags of pharmaceutical ephedrine pills hidden inside the trunk. The bags contained a total of 22,136 pills, weighing 34.07 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $1.6 million.

Ephedrine is a necessary ingredient or precursor chemical for the production of the dangerous drug, methamphetamine. By intercepting these precursor chemicals, the Border Patrol prevents clandestine meth labs from obtaining materials used to manufacture large quantities of the drug. These illegal substances are often destined for the United States.

Agents turned the two subjects and the pills over to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Task Force, and the 2007 Ford Mustang was seized by the Blythe Border Patrol Station.

In fiscal year 2009, the Yuma Sector Border Patrol seized more than $46 million worth of drugs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
Yuma Sector
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (928) 341-6520

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2009_5.xml