EL PASO: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations officers working at the El Paso port of entry seized 72 pounds of liquid methamphetamine Thursday. The drugs were disguised as bottles of liquid detergent. “Smugglers will try to use everyday items in an attempt to conceal their contraband from the watchful eyes of CBP officers,” said Beverly Good, CBP El Paso Port Director. “The layers of enforcement CBP employs will identify many of these techniques.” The seizure was made just before 11 p.m. at the Ysleta international crossing when a 1994 Ford Econoline with a female driver entered the port from Mexico. A CBP officer performing a primary inspection noted anomalies in the appearance of three bottles of liquid detergent present in the vehicle. A CBP drug sniffing dog searched the vehicle and alerted to the bottles. CBP officers scanned the vehicle with the Z-Portal x-ray system which also identified suspicions with the detergent bottles. The contents of the bottles tested positive for methamphetamine.
CBP officers took custody of the driver, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen. She was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement HSI agents to face charges associated with the failed drug smuggling attempt. In addition to this seizure CBP officers working in the El Paso area made five additional drug busts and recorded three fugitive arrests on a busy Thursday. While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.
