see also: in May 2006 News Releases:   Seven Wanted Fugitives Apprehended by CBP Officers at Andrade Port of Entry   U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2006 Reporting Requirements for Private Boat Operators Arriving at Port of Entry in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana   CBP Officers in Calexico Seize More Drugs, 266 Pounds of Cocaine   CBP Border Patrol on Heightened State of Alert as Scorching Temperatures Hit South Texas   New Border Patrol Station Contract Awarded   CBP Border Patrol Agents Seize Hidden Loads of Narcotics   CBP Border Patrol Agents Seize More Than Half-Ton of Marijuana ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Marfa, TX – U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents with the Border Patrol’s Marfa Sector seized almost 3,000 pounds of marijuana in two seizures Sunday. The seizures occurred at the Sierra Blanca Checkpoint and in Presidio County south of Valentine, Texas.

Sunday morning, at the Sierra Blanca Checkpoint on Interstate 10, agents discovered 2,720 pounds of marijuana hidden in wooden boxes, covered with a tarp on a trailer. The trailer was pulled by a 2001 Dodge Ram truck driven by a U.S. Citizen from Mesquite, Texas. The marijuana has a street value of $2.1 million. The driver, the drugs, and the vehicle and trailer were turned over to DEA.

Also Sunday, a Marfa agent was able to follow footprints to four men Sunday morning on a ranch south of Valentine, Texas. The men were hiding under a cedar tree. The agent suspected the men had been carrying backpacks so a search was conducted of the immediate area by agents and with the assistance of a CBP Air helicopter. Three duffle bags and a sugar sack packed with 172 pounds of marijuana were found. The four men, all citizens of Mexico and in the country illegally, were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The marijuana has a street value of $137,000.

Since October 1, 2005, Border Patrol agents of the Marfa Sector have seized over $64 million in drugs including over 70,000 pounds of marijuana and over 249 pounds of cocaine. The Sector has also apprehended more than 6,500 illegal aliens during the same period.

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.