see also: in August 2007 News Releases:   Border Patrol Agents Seize Drugs at California Checkpoint   Palm Beach, Fla. Welcomes New Tool in Fighting Terror Weapons   Drug Seizure Activity at Border Ports Remains Brisk; El Paso CBP Nabs More Than 2 Tons of Pot   Yuma Border Agents Help Local Police Track 3 Fleeing Burglary Scene   CBP Officers at Laredo, Texas Entry Seize Almost $6 Million in Drugs in Two Seizures   Suspected Smuggling Lookouts Captured in Desert   1st Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Northwest Retires ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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El Paso, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers performing anti-terror inspections at the Paso Del Norte border crossing in El Paso seized 513 pounds of marijuana Friday. A brother and sister from Mexico were taken into custody as a result of the failed smuggling attempt.

The seizure was made at about 1 p.m. when a 2001 Dodge Ram pickup with a load of furniture in the bed entered the port from Mexico. A CBP officer at the primary inspection booth directed the driver to the secondary inspection area where CBP drug sniffing dog “Lady” alerted to the furniture. CBP officers cut open one sofa and located numerous tape-wrapped bundles inside. The contents of the bundles tested positive for marijuana. CBP officers removed a total of 460 marijuana-filled bundles from the furniture.

“This is a good example of hard working CBP officers foiling the efforts of smugglers who went to extreme lengths in order to evade detection,” said Polly Figueroa, U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting El Paso Port Director. “To the untrained eye, this was a man, woman and her two kids crossing with some new furniture. CBP officers proved again that what appears normal could be anything but routine.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents arrested the driver of the vehicle, 31-year-old Miriam Molina Macias, of Juarez, Mexico. ICE agents also arrested the passenger, 28-year-old German Molina Macias of Juarez, Mexico, in connection with the failed smuggling attempt. The driver’s 11-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, who were also passengers in the truck at the time of the seizure, were turned over to a relative.

CBP officers screen all people, vehicles, and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel into and out of the United States. Their mission also includes carrying out traditional border-related responsibilities, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration law, and protecting the nation’s food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases. 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 (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.