I.C.E. News Release

Agents Seize More than 3 Tons of Dope over Weekend

(Monday, November 22, 2010)

Edinburg, Texas - More than $5.8 million worth of marijuana was confiscated in multiple seizures by U.S. Border Patrol agents throughout the Rio Grande Valley Sector over the past weekend.

One of the largest seizures occurred Friday near Hidalgo, Texas, when agents assigned to the McAllen Station noticed a suspicious vehicle driving away from the Rio Grande at a high rate of speed. When agents attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver jumped out and fled on foot into a sugarcane field. A helicopter from CBP Office of Air and Marine and the Hidalgo Police Department assisted with the search. Inside the vehicle agents found more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

In a separate incident Saturday, agents assigned to the Rio Grande City Station seized more than 800 pounds of marijuana when they were tracking a group of people and found the marijuana hidden in the brush under camouflage netting.

A CBP Air and Marine Helicopter alongside Hidalgo PD assist McAllen agents in the search for the driver of a narcotics load.

All of the seized marijuana was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

To report suspicious activity, call the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector’s toll-free telephone number at (800) 863-9382.

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

CBP Headquarters
Office of Public Affairs
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Room 3.4A
Washington, DC 20229

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2010_5.xml