Heavy Equipment Plows Yield Over a Ton of Marijuana at Marfa Border Patrol Checkpoint

Marfa, Texas – Customs and Border Protection Big Bend U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Marfa station checkpoint recently seized a huge load of marijuana hidden within tractor parts. The marijuana weighed 2,395 pounds and was valued at $1.9 million. This seizure was the second enormous marijuana load found by Border Patrol agents, secreted within heavy construction equipment at this location in less than a month.

On the afternoon of March 29, a CBP U.S. Border Patrol canine team alerted to a trailer carrying eight large steel plow rippers when it entered the Marfa station checkpoint. A further inspection indicated each of the ripper implements contained sealed metal boxes full of marijuana.

Earlier in March, Marfa station agents also seized 1,086 pounds of marijuana hidden in a huge bulldozer blade.

The driver of the tractor-trailer; the vehicle; the plow rippers; and the marijuana, were all turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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.