Agents in Texas Nab $8.4M Cocaine Load

Del Rio, Texas – CBP U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Eagle Pass South Station seized more than 260 pounds of cocaine Friday evening. The incident marked the largest cocaine seizure in the Del Rio Border Patrol Sector since August 2006. 

Agents manning a traffic checkpoint near Eagle Pass around 8 p.m Friday, referred a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup truck for further inspection after a canine team conducted a cursory inspection and alerted to the vehicle. In the bed of the pickup, agents found a roll of carpet. Using a non-intrusive imaging system, agents detected anomalies within the carpet.

Inside the carpet roll, agents found a cardboard cylinder filled with 100 bricks of cocaine, weighing a total of 263.75 pounds, estimated to be worth $8,440,000.

The driver, a 42-year-old woman, was arrested and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration, along with the cocaine and pickup truck. The woman’s three minor children, who were also in the vehicle, were released to a relative.

Martin R. Clark, patrol agent in charge of the Eagle Pass South station, lauded agents’ efforts in seizing the large load of cocaine.

“This is a huge seizure and definitely a significant blow to the criminal organization that attempted to smuggle cocaine through our checkpoint,” Clark noted. “It highlights the scope and size of the criminal element that we face daily. I am proud of the agents who effected this arrest and commend them on a job well done.”

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.  Read and learn the best Homeland Security books and help America fight crime and terrorism.