Massive drug busts in California, Texas, enough to kill more than 32.7 million people

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Massive drug busts are continuing along the southwest border primarily in California and Texas. In roughly a dozen stops this month federal agents seized enough cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine to kill more than 32.7 million people.

California and Texas ports of entry are seeing increased volumes of drugs as illegal border entries drop due to stricter border enforcement policies. But cartel operations are also shifting, Texas law enforcement officers have explained to The Center Square. Statewide they say they are seeing increased volumes of drugs in rural, urban and port areas.

This month, nearly all of the drivers caught were Mexicans attempting to illegally import narcotics at ports of entry. In all cases, the drugs were hidden inside vehicle roofs and panels and inside cargo manifested as something else. With the help of canines and the use of advanced technology, officers were able to find hundreds of packages hidden inside multiple compartments.

In California, U.S. Customs and Border Protection San Diego Sector officers seized nearly $2.8 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine in two separate seizures in less than one week at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The first seizure was of 35 pounds of fentanyl powder and 80 pounds of methamphetamine with a combined estimated street value of more than $2 million. The driver was a woman and the drugs were found hidden inside the roof of her vehicle.

In another stop, they found 14 pounds of fentanyl powder equivalent to approximately 509,818 fentanyl pills concealed inside the vehicle’s rear quarter panels. In this case, the driver was enrolled in the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection program. The drugs had an estimated street value of $764,727, CBP said.

Also in the San Diego Sector, agents working at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility seized more than 3,000 pounds of meth with an estimated street value of nearly $5 million. The meth was concealed inside a cargo trailer with a manifest listing corrugated cardboard boxes. In this case, the drugs were hidden inside the trailer’s front wall, found by a canine.

In other stops earlier this month, San Ysidro POE agents found and seized more than 60 pounds of cocaine worth more than $1 million and more than 430 pounds of cocaine and meth worth an estimated street value of $2.8 million.

In Texas, CBP Laredo Field Office agents at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility intercepted $8.1 million worth of meth concealed in a shipment manifested as tile.

The Mexican national was driving a commercial tractor trailer with 200 packages of meth hidden inside pallets weighing more than 908 pounds, CBP said.

In another stop at the same facility, officers and a canine found 32 packages of cocaine weighing more than 83 pounds concealed inside a trailer floor. The cocaine had an estimated street value of $1.1 million, CBP said.

In another stop, they found and seized more than 45 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of nearly $606,000.

At the World Trade Bridge, Laredo Sector officers found nearly 113 pounds of meth worth more than $1 million hidden inside a tractor trailer hauling a shipment of leather bags. At the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge, they found 25 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the vehicle with an estimated street value of nearly $339,000, CBP said.

At the Camino Real International Bridge, officers found and seized 25 packages of 57 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the vehicle’s floorboard with an estimated street value of more than $763,000.

At the Eagle Pass International Bridge, officers found 107 packages containing more than 237 pounds of meth hidden inside the trailer’s floorboard with an estimated street value of more than $2.1 million.

In the CBP Rio Grande Valley Sector, agents at the Hidalgo International Bridge found 36 packages of cocaine weighing 78 pounds hidden in the seats of a bus. The drugs had an estimated street value of more than $1 million, CBP said.

In all cases, the narcotics and vehicles were seized and the drivers were arrested, taken into custody and face federal charges for importing narcotics, CBP said.

According to AddictionResources.net, a lethal dose of methamphetamine is an estimated 200 milligrams, a lethal dose of cocaine is over 30 milligrams. A lethal dose of fentanyl is considered two milligrams, the weight of a mosquito.

Based on these estimates, in this month alone, CBP agents in roughly a dozen stops in California and Texas seized enough cocaine (11.76 million), meth (9.8 million) and fentanyl (11.1 million) to kill 32.7 million people.

The combined estimated street value of the drugs totaled more than $27 million.