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contacts for this news release

Laredo, Texas – Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents seized marijuana in three cases that occurred throughout the sector today and Tuesday.

Agents assigned to the Hebbronville station are credited with making the largest of the seizures. The case unfolded early this morning when agents performed an immigration inspection on the driver of a tractor-trailer that pulled into the checkpoint located on Highway 16 south of Hebbronville.

During the inspection, a Border Patrol canine alerted toward a large storage tank that was being hauled on the vehicle’s flatbed trailer. Agents examined the tank with the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) which uses gamma rays to produce an image similar to an x-ray. The machine image showed several anomalies inside the tank. Agents opened the tank and found 234 cellophane-wrapped bundles. The bundles contained marijuana with a total weight of 4,907.6 pounds and an estimated street value of $3.9 million.

The driver, vehicle and marijuana were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents assigned to the Laredo North station made the second seizure this afternoon at the immigration checkpoint located on Interstate 35 north of Laredo. When they performed an immigration inspection on the driver of a Ford pickup truck, a Border Patrol canine alerted toward a flatbed trailer being towed by the vehicle.

Agents searched the trailer and found 11 cellophane-wrapped bundles in a toolbox mounted on the front of the trailer. The bundles contained marijuana with a total weight of 522.9 pounds and an estimated street value of $418,320.

The driver, vehicle and marijuana were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The third seizure occurred Tuesday evening when agents assigned to the Laredo South station disrupted a smuggling attempt in the Santa Rita subdivision. The agents observed several subjects loading large bundles into the trunk of a car. When the agents approached the scene, the car drove away and the subjects absconded into Mexico. The agents recovered several bundles of marijuana at the scene.

A short time later, other Laredo South station agents stopped a vehicle fitting the description of the car involved with the loading incident. Inside the trunk agents found a large bundle of marijuana.

The bundles seized at the loading location and from the car contained marijuana with a total weight of 311.8 pounds and an estimated street value of $249,440.

The car, two subjects and all of the marijuana were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

To report suspicious activity such as drug and/or alien smuggling, contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free telephone number at 1-800-343-1994.

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 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.