Thread: El Paso - Border bridge closed to vehicle traffic

http://www.elpasotimes.com/breakingnews/ci_4805793

Border bridge closed to vehicle traffic (4:43 p.m.)
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched:12/08/2006 04:37:33 PM MST


Two members of the El Paso Police Department's bomb squad approached a Dodge Caravan at the Paso del Norte Bridge on Friday. A customs search of the van uncovered marijuana and a suspicious package. (Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Times)The Paso Del Norte Bridge has been closed for an hour to vehicle traffic because of a suspicious package found in a drug-loaded car, Customs and Border Protection officials said.
The car is parked in secondary inspection, the canopied area near Sixth street where Customs officers conduct in-depth vehicle searches.

Officials declined to describe the package or why it was suspicious but said it was found during the search for drugs. Officials were waiting for help from the El Paso police bomb squad.

Pedestrians were still being allowed to cross into the United States but asked to exit the pedestrian checkpoint through a side door onto Oregon Street. No vehicles are allowed to go through.

Check back to elpasotimes.com later for more on this breaking story.

Bridge into El Paso open after bomb scare
Pot found in package that halted traffic
By Darren Meritz / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Article Launched:12/09/2006 12:00:00 AM MST

The Paso del Norte Bridge was closed for almost five hours Friday afternoon because of a suspicious package found in a hidden compartment of a van loaded with drugs, Customs and Border Protection officials said.
A little after 2 p.m., Customs and Border Protection officials felt unsure about the safety of the contents of one among 35 bundles that contained 63 pounds of marijuana.

The El Paso Police Department bomb squad was called to the bridge. Squad members, wearing protective gear and using robotic devices, spent hours working to ensure that the package posed no threat.

When they opened the package, all they found was more marijuana.

The bridge was reopened to vehicular traffic about 7:15 p.m.

"No one was stuck on the bridge," said Roger Maier, spokes man for Customs and Border Protection. "As far as pedestrians, there was a little bit of a backup after 2 p.m."

Maier said it was likely that Friday evening, Juárez traffic "looked like a parking lot" because vehicles were stopped from entering the United States at the Paso del Norte Bridge.

Pedestrians were still allowed to cross into the United States but were asked to exit the pedestrian checkpoint through a side door onto Oregon Street.

"They took us out the back exit. Waiting wasn't bad at all," said Denise May, an El Paso Realtor who made the trip to Juárez with a friend. "They looked in our purses, and that's it."

The van, a 1993 Plymouth Voyager, was parked late Friday in the canopied secondary inspection area near Sixth Street, where customs officers conduct in-depth vehicle searches.

The driver of the van, a 35-year-old Mexican man whose name was not released, was taken into federal custody.

An estimated 15,000 northbound vehicles travel across the Paso del Norte Bridge each day, officials said.


Darren Meritz may be reached at dmeritz@elpasotimes.com; 546-6127.

An estimated 15,000 northbound vehicles travel across the Paso del Norte Bridge each day, officials said.

And the Mexican Consultant isn't doing their usual song and dance about rights of their citizens being inconvenienced by the wait?

I applaud these agents, they did their job in protecting the public.
It can be a dangerous world out there and who knows what kind device this could have been. I have a family member who is on a bomb squad and he has told me some scary stuff.