CBP officers find 800 pounds of marijuana in a commercial bus

Maggie Ybarra / El Paso Times
Posted: 09/14/2010 01:17:59 PM MDT


U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found about 800 pounds of marijuana concealed in a commercial bus that tried to cross the Bridge of the Americas (Juarez - El Paso) Monday.

The drug seizure was made about 4 a.m., U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said. A drug dog alerted the officers to the presence of drugs in the passenger bus, officials said.

There were no passengers on the bus at the time, officials said.

Border Protection officers examined the bus, found an anomaly in the ceiling-mounted air conditioning unit and drilled into the ceiling to see what the anomaly was. The officers found marijuana in the ceiling and a total of 714 marijuana-filled bundles in the bus, officials said.

The officers arrested the bus driver, a 48-year-old man and Mexican National, and turned him over to the El Paso Police Department for prosecution.

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