US Border: Massive Drug Busts Hit Mexican Cartels Hard
Year-end multi-million dollar seizures of cartel cash and drugs are adding up along the US Southern Border
US Federal Authorities along the Southern Border with Mexico are taking it to the Cartels with a series of big (multi-million dollar) busts and arrests to close out the year.
Last weekend, for example, US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Officers on the Veterans International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas assisted by a K-9 discovered 100 packages hidden inside a car towing a utility trailer containing 245.50 pounds of cocaine worth $3,336,864. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is following up on this seizure.
Not to be outdone (and during the same weekend) CBP Officers at the International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas, (once again aided by a trusty K-9) also chalked up a big drug bust. The officers found 20 packages containing 442 pounds of methamphetamine and two packages containing nearly 18 pounds of heroin inside a van crossing into the US from Reynosa, Mexico.
The estimated street values of these drugs added up to $4,294,759. Local and State officers assigned to a High-Intensity Drug Task Force (HIDTA) arrested the driver and are continuing the investigation into the Mexican Cartel operation suspected to be behind this drug shipment.
Meanwhile, the Chief of the US Border Patrol announced that his agents assigned to the US Southern Border from Texas to California seized over 236 lbs. of cocaine valued at more than $1.5 million during a recent 72-hour period.
Chief Jason Owens says that so far this year, Border Patrol Agents and their law enforcement partners have interdicted over 14,000 pounds of cocaine worth a staggering $356 million!
Last week alone, US Border Patrol Agents seized over 52,000 lbs. of dangerous narcotics valued at over $224 Million, with cocaine tipping the scales with a value of +$171 Million, Chief Owens says.
Border Patrol Agents in the El Centro, California Sector - assisted by US Marshals and Homeland Security Investigations - have announced the arrest of a "high-ranking leader in Los Rusos Cartel" - a faction of the powerful Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS).
The Border Patrol says the arrest at the Calexico Port of Entry followed an unsuccessful attempt to smuggle $1.1 million dollars of cartel profits from the US to Mexico.
The New Orleans Border Patrol Sector has seized or assisted other law enforcement with the seizure of over $5.2 million in the past six months. In addition, Mobile, Alabama Border Patrol Agents recently oversaw "Operation Smokey", which resulted in the seizure of nearly $1 million of drug profits.
These year-end seizures and arrests are putting a sizeable dent in Mexican Cartel operations as 2024 comes to a close.
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Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
