U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr (Texas) International Bridge recently found more than a ton of marijuana hidden in a commercial load of avocados.
The officers discovered 421 packages of marijuana weighing 2,119 pounds in the shipment Feb. 22. The marijuana, valued at $424,000, was discovered after a “thorough inspection utilizing all available tools and resources,” according to a news release.
The interception followed a similar seizure on Feb. 19 at the port of entry, when 343 packages of marijuana weighing 818 pounds was found in an empty tractor-trailer arriving from Mexico. The two shipments are valued at $587,000, according to the release.
“Marijuana is being intercepted in large quantities in this region both at and in between the ports of entry,” Port Director David Gonzalez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry, said in the release. “CBP officers at our port and throughout the Laredo Field Office are encountering and seizing colossal loads of marijuana.”
The CBP Office of Field Operations used canines and non-intrusive imaging technology in the seizures. Homeland Security Investigations is handling the cases.
