see also: in May 2007 News Releases:   Agriculture Inspection, User Fee Requirements Begin June 1 for Commercial Trucks, Railroad Cars Entering U.S. From Canada   Customs and Border Protection starts 2007 Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act Cycle   New Mexico Border Patrol Seizes Nearly $1.5 Million in Marijuana   Suspected Child Molester, FBI Top 10 Fugitive Turned Over to Buffalo Customs and Border Protection   Jayson P. Ahern Announced as Next CBP Deputy Commissioner   CBP Border Patrol Continues Recruiting With Help of Car #28   Electronic Manifest Filing Now Mandatory in Michigan and New York ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers on the web:   CBSA web site

contacts for this news release

San Diego – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducting border security operations at the San Diego and Imperial Valley ports of entry made three significant narcotic seizures worth almost $34 million, officials announced today.

“Seizures such as these are a benefit of the heightened security on the border and illustrate our close working relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” said Adele Fasano, CBP director of field operations for San Diego and Imperial counties.

A large narcotics seizure at the San Ysidro crossing occurred on Sunday, May 13 at about 5 a.m. when CBP officers discovered 203 packages of marijuana weighing 1,196 pounds in the floor compartment of a 1994 commercial bus. The driver, a 47-year-old man from Mexico City, was arrested and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to await arraignment on federal drug smuggling charges.

The bus and marijuana were both seized by CBP. The seized marijuana is valued at about $3.6 million.

A significant cocaine seizure occurred on Friday, May 11 at 1 p.m. at the Calexico East border station after officers ordered the 24-year old male driver of a 2006 Pontiac to the secondary area for a more in-depth inspection.

Officers utilized a narcotic detector dog that alerted to the vehicle during the intensive examination. Officers subsequently discovered a non-factory compartment underneath the rear seat of the vehicle that contained 86 wrapped packages of cocaine weighing over 216 pounds and worth more than $2.1 million.

Special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the driver, a U.S. citizen who resides in Calexico, for the failed smuggling attempt.

CBP officers at the Otay Mesa cargo port of entry also worked closely with ICE special agents who investigated the smuggling attempt of almost 9,400 pounds of marijuana worth over $28 million. The marijuana was hidden within a front wall compartment in the trailer of a cargo truck that entered the port hauling a load of plastic scrap.

ICE agents investigating the case arrested four individuals in Chula Vista last week, and discovered a loaded handgun in a vehicle being driven by one of the suspects. CBP officers seized the cargo truck and 790 wrapped packages of marijuana weighing 9,398 pounds. The case remains under investigation.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.