C.B.P. Office of Field Operations Weekly Blotter:

OFO Weekly Blotter: March 8 / 12

(03/24/2010)
El Paso F/O - CBP officers arrested a Mississippi woman, named in an outstanding warrant charging her with parental kidnapping, at Veteran’s International Bridge as she tried to enter the U.S. Monday afternoon.

Chicago F/O – CBP officers in Cincinnati discovered heroin in a package destined for Canada at a DHL express consignment facility. The drugs were hidden inside a package that was labeled as an air compressor.

Laredo F/O – CBP officers seized over 100 pounds of "queso fresco," a soft Mexican cheese, as it was being smuggled from Mexico to the U.S. through the Bridge of the Americas port of entry. The cheese was hidden in four false compartments underneath the vehicle's seats.

Laredo - CBP officers arrested a Brownsville mother after she tried to smuggle $718,000 in cocaine through an international bridge while she had her 9-year-old daughter in the car, authorities said.

San Diego F/O - During a one-day enforcement effort targeting agriculture, CBP officers and Agriculture Specialists stopped 112 vehicles with prohibited items, including flowers, herbs, fruits, vegetables and meat at the San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, and Tecate ports of entry.

Buffalo F/O - CBP officers at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge seized 77,856 tablets of ecstasy worth $1.5 million after it was detected, with X-ray technology, in the rear quarter panels of a car wrapped in cellophane, dryer sheets and electrical tape.

March 9, 2010

Buffalo F/O - CBP officers at the Peace Bridge encountered a male as a passenger in a taxi who used a valid U.S. passport as proof of citizenship and told the CBP officer that he was returning home to Brooklyn, N.Y. The man told them he was denied entry into Canada, because Canadian authorities thought he had too much luggage for just being a visitor. Officers noticed the man had a foreign accent not consistent with someone claiming to have grown up in Brooklyn, NY. Following a fingerprint check, officers discovered the man was really Osaruyi Eduwen, 43, who was a Nigerian national.

Laredo – CBP officers arrested four wanted fugitives over the weekend.

All four arrests took place when the fugitives were referred to a secondary inspection area, where CBP officers confirmed they were the people named in the warrants.

March 10, 2010

San Diego F/O – CBP officers arrested 294 illegal immigrants over the weekend.

294 immigrants were found hidden in vehicles or were using fraudulent entry documents or documents legally issued to someone else. Among those arrested were 16 fugitives wanted on charges of battery, burglary, assault and probation violation.

Buffalo F/O – CBP officers conducting an inspection of the rear cargo area of a sport utility vehicle found several pieces of luggage and a large hockey bag. Closer inspection of the hockey bag resulted in the discovery of a male subject hiding inside of it.


Miami F/O – CBP officers at Miami international airport apprehended numerous subjects this weekend attempting to enter the United States by fraudulent means. One presented a U.S. passport that he had obtained fraudulently was in possession of a counterfeit U.S. Non-Immigrant visa and there were four other incidents where subjects had obtained backdated admission stamps in their passports in order to conceal previous overstays.


El Paso F/O – CBP officers at the El Paso POE seized 24.5 pounds of cocaine after canine officer ‘Outlaw’ alerted to the vehicle. Subsequent to the seizure it was discovered that the smuggler was using an assumed identity to enter the country.


March 11, 2010


El Paso F/O - CBP Agriculture Specialist working at the El Paso port of entry made several seizures revealing potentially hazardous pests that could cause harm to domestic crops. CBPAS found live citrus black flies in one instance and almost two dozen living fruit fly larvae in another case. A traveler declared a bag of fruit that included sweet limes, manzano peppers, avocados, mangoes, and passion fruit. All of these items were prohibited for entry and the traveler surrendered them without incident.


Laredo F/O – CBP officers arrested a North Carolina man as he attempted to cross the border with nearly 8 kilos of pure heroine.


March 12, 2010


Atlanta F/O – CBP officers at the Port of Savannah intercepted and seized 23 cartons of counterfeit “Barlowâ€