see also: in October 2007 News Releases:   Cocaine Smuggler Tries To Trick El Paso CBP Officers by Hiding Drugs in Car Body   Border Patrol Agents in Texas Seize Marijuana Worth $1 Million Hidden Under Watermelons   Fingerprint Check Allows Border Patrol to Arrest Murder Suspect   CBP Officers at Mail Facility Find Marijuana in Cement Statues, Opium   Tecate, Calif. Cargo Processing Port to Resume Operations Wednesday Morning   CBP at Newark Airport Discovers Man with Fraudulent Documents, False Claim to U.S. Citizenship ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Del Rio, Texas – Border Patrol agents assigned to a Lake Amistad, Texas task force seized more than 500 pounds of marijuana and detained four suspects yesterday.

The incident occurred when Border Patrol agents, assigned to Border Patrol’s marine operations on Lake Amistad, observed a fishing boat traveling toward the international boundary at a high rate of speed. The fishing boat was coming from an area commonly used by smugglers.

The agents proceeded to the area from which the boat came. As the agents investigated the area, they observed a vehicle with the trunk and the rear doors open. The occupants, upon seeing the agents, left the area at a high rate of speed driving east toward Del Rio, Texas on Hwy 90. The agents soon found out the reason for the hasty departure, when they found a bundle of marijuana where the vehicle had been parked.

Additional Border Patrol agents in the area were immediately notified of the narcotics discovery, and a short time later agents working roving patrol located the vehicle and apprehended the subjects as they pulled into a residence near Lake Amistad.

In the back seat and trunk of the vehicle Border Patrol agents discovered multiple large bundles of marijuana. The subjects and the narcotics were turned over to Drug Enforcement Administration. The marijuana was valued at more than $400,000.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the 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.