see also: in December 2007 News Releases:   Fugitive with $1 Million Bail Apprehended by CBP   Canada, CBP Team to Arrest U.S. Citizen Wanted for Sex Offense Charges With Child   Calexico, Calif. East Port to Extend Hours New Year’s Eve   Quick Action by Border Patrol Agent Saves Life on Christmas Day   CBP Officers Seize Over Half a Million in Cocaine, Marijuana, and Arrest One at Laredo Port of Entry   CBP Detains Missing Wanted Juvenile at Del Rio Port of Entry   CBP in Laredo, Texas Detains ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Suspect Wanted on Bank Robbery Charges ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

El Paso, Texas -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) commercial cargo facility made a 789-pound marijuana seizure Saturday afternoon. The drugs were concealed within a shipment of decorative pots and vases.

The seizure was made shortly after 12:00 p.m. when a 1997 GMC box truck entered the BOTA facility from Mexico. A CBP officer at the primary inspection booth selected the truck for an intensive inspection. CBP officers used non-intrusive inspection equipment to scan the shipment and x-rays revealed an anomaly in the appearance of the commodity. CBP drug sniffing dog “Quixote” then alerted to the presence of narcotics in the truck.

CBP officers began searching the boxes in the truck and found numerous decorative plaster of paris pots, vases and other items inside. CBP officers searched a large vase and found that it contained bundles of marijuana. CBP officers removed a total of 719 plastic-wrapped bundles from various items in the shipment. No arrests were made.

The seizure marks the third time in eight days that area CBP officers have discovered drugs in an unusual concealment. On December 8, CBP officers at the Ysleta port of entry in El Paso seized 30 pounds of marijuana that were concealed inside six large holiday candles. And on December 10, CBP officers at the Antelope Wells crossing in New Mexico located 11 pounds of marijuana in six jars of pickled jalapenos.

While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.

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.