July 6, 2009

June proves big month for border smuggling via truck

The month of June was a hot month for drug busts along the southern border.

On June 18, border agents at the Interstate 35 inspection station stopped nearly a thousand pounds of marijuana and seven illegal aliens from entering the U.S.

Customs and Border Patrol agents at the Laredo, TX, station inspected the driver of a tractor-trailer entering the U.S. from Mexico. A Border Patrol canine team detected either hidden people or contraband in the trailer.

Agents searched the trailer and found several cellophane-wrapped bundles stacked with a load of beer. The marijuana totaled 995.6 pounds and had an estimated street value of $796,480.

On June 20, agents at the same checkpoint performed an immigration inspection on the driver of a tractor-trailer from Mexico. A Border Patrol canine alerted agents to the truck’s cab where they discovered seven undocumented aliens hiding in the sleeper.

According to a news release from Customs and Border Patrol, all of the subjects were processed for prosecution or removal from the country.

During the same week, federal agents at the U.S.-Mexico border stopped two trucks that had gone to extensive lengths to hide marijuana and bring it into El Paso, TX.

On June 17, officers at the Ysleta commercial crossing in El Paso stopped a 1992 International truck that was deadheading from Mexico. During inspection, U.S. Customs officers discovered 340 pounds of marijuana hidden in the truck’s saddle tanks.

On June 18, border officers inspected a 1993 Freightliner pulling an empty reefer as it arrived at the Bridge of the Americas commercial crossing. An x-ray scan revealed “an anomalyâ€