TEXAS: U.S Customs and Border Protection officers have seized 86 pounds of meth valued at more than $2.7 million and arrested a smuggler at an El Paso port of entry on Sunday.
The seizure was made before 11 a.m. at the Paso Del Norte border crossing, when a drug-sniffing dog alerted U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers of a 2007 Volkswagen Touareg.
An X-ray of the vehicle led officers and Border Patrol agents to find 32 meth-filled bundles hidden in the rocker panels of the vehicle, officials said. The drugs weighed 85.9 pounds and have an estimated street value of $2,748,800.
“This is a very large drug load that did not make it to its intended destination,” said Beverly Good, CBP El Paso port director. “Holiday traffic remains heavy, yet CBP officers continue to focus on their mission and stop criminal activity on a daily basis.”
The driver, Ramon Valencia Magana, a 54-year-old Fontana, California, resident, was turned over to federal agents and faces criminal charges. He was booked into the El Paso County jail.
