Impressive 120 pounds of cocaine hidden in a shipment of watermelons seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at a California Border Crossing at Calexico East Cargo Facility on March 15. 2023. The street value of the discovered drug is estimated at over $1.5 million. The driver was arrested. The tractor, trailer, and drugs were seized by CBP officers.
Calexico East Port of Entry is a border crossing between the U.S.A. and Mexico, connecting Calexico, California, and Mexicali, Baja California. Since 1996. all truck traffic from Mexico is diverted to Calexico East for inspection. CBP officers process millions of legitimate travelers at this border crossing. They are stopping all kinds of illegal activities at this border crossing.
As the CBS agency announced on Friday, March 17. 2023, on Wednesday, March 15. 2023, at around 6:20 am officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped the truck and trailer entering the U.S. from Mexico for control. The 41-year-old truck driver presented a valid border crossing card. He also had a valid manifest to declare the cargo of watermelons. After an initial investigation, border control referred the driver to the dock for a secondary inspection.
Secondary inspection is the more detailed examination. The canine team screened the tractor-trailer and sniffed out suspicious substances in the shipment of watermelons. They alerted the officers. After removing the watermelons, CBP officers discovered 22 brick-shaped packages of cocaine wrapped in plastic foil concealed within plastic pallets. The total amount of cocaine was nearly 120 pounds with an estimated street value of $1.5 million.
CBP officers arrested the unnamed truck driver for the alleged narcotics smuggling attempt and turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Further investigation will be conducted by these services.
In this action of CBS officers, an impressive amount of 120 pounds of cocaine was seized and stopped from going out on the streets, poisoning millions of U.S. citizens.
