see also: in October 2008:   Mexican Military Makes Accidental Incursion into the U.S.   CBP Officers Apprehend Illegal Alien Hidden on Rail Car   Border Patrol Agents Make Several Drug Seizures Near Laredo   CBP Officers at the Calexico Downtown Port of Entry Intercept Cocaine Smuggling Attempt   CBP to Open Andrade Port of Entry Earlier During Agriculture Harvest Season   Layered Enforcement Snags U.S. Citizen, Foils 3 Smuggling Attempts   CBP Announces Online Method for Meeting SENTRI Vehicle Requirements ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Chicago — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection K-9 officer working with his partner Rambo seized more than 17 pounds of opium at the Chicago Foreign Mail Facility Tuesday.

While screening arriving international mail at the Foreign Mail Facility at O’Hare Airport, Rambo discovered two separate shipments of opium, that had been soaked and dried onto wooden twigs and packed in dried leaves.

The parcels, shipped from Loas and destined to Minneapolis, Minn., were manifested with the description "Traditional Medicine." The CBP K-9 officer opened the parcel to find numerous plastic bags which contained wood twigs and dried leaves. The twigs appeared to be saturated with an unknown substance that gave off a distinctive odor. The substance from one of the twigs field tested positive for the presence of opiates.

This is the tenth opium seizure in the last four weeks by CBP at the foreign mail branch for a combined total of more than 83 pounds of opium. The shipments have all originated from Laos and were destined to various residences in Minneapolis, Minn. The investigation is on-going.

"The CBP K-9 program has been outstanding in detecting concealed narcotics that arrive in the United States,” said David Murphy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, director of field operations in Chicago. “These K-9 officers work daily with their partners to discover prohibited items and prevent contraband from entering the United States.” There are currently six categories of CBP detector dogs: explosive, narcotics, currency, BORSTAR, agriculture, and concealed humans and CBP have over 1,100 detector dogs in the workforce. The average trained CBP K-9 can inspect 500 packages in 20-30 minutes.

CBP officers and agriculture specialists are stationed at the foreign mail facilities located throughout the country. CBP is constantly screening arriving international mail and on the lookout for any type of contraband or prohibited items being shipped to the United States.

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.