Thread: TX: Officers in Laredo seize 127 pounds of heroin

Officers in Laredo seize 127 pounds of heroin
Oct. 26, 2010, 6:01AM


LAREDO — What's up brought down a heroin smuggling attempt in Laredo.

Federal agents say the roof of a bus yielded nearly $13 million worth of brown heroin as the driver tried to enter from Mexico.

Customs and Border Protection officers at the Laredo Port of Entry made the 127-pound bust. An Arlington man has been detained in the drug smuggling investigation. The driver's name was not immediately released.

An officer at the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge became suspicious Sunday and referred a bus for another examination. About 100 packets of brown heroin were discovered hidden in the roof.

CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin says the seizure was the largest heroin confiscation in Laredo port history and the biggest heroin bust along the southwest border in five years.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 64171.html

C.B.P. News Release

Laredo CBP Officers Seize $12.7 Million in Heroin

Largest Heroin Seizure in the Port’s History

(Monday, October 25, 2010)

Laredo, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Laredo Port of Entry this weekend seized $12.7 million in heroin, the largest heroin seizure in the history of the port.

CBP officers discovered 100 packages containing a total of 127 pounds of brown heroin hidden within the roof of a bus. The heroin has an estimated street value of $12.7 million.

The seizure occurred on Oct. 24, at Lincoln-Juarez Bridge when a CBP officer referred a 2001 Scania Irizar bus driven by a 41-year-old U.S. citizen from Arlington, Texas for a secondary examination. CBP officers conducted an intensive examination and discovered 100 packages containing a total of 127 pounds of brown heroin hidden within the bus roof. The heroin has an estimated street value of $12.7 million.

The driver was turned over by CBP officers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) agents for further investigation.

“As CBP’s largest seizure ever made at the Laredo Port of Entry and the largest heroin seizure by CBP officers along the Southwest Border in the last five years, this is a stunning accomplishment and illustrates the substantial drug threat our frontline officers face at ports of entry throughout the nation,â€