see also: in September 2003:   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nabs Three Sisters Smuggling Cocaine, Heroin   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Names Directors of 78 Major Ports Nationwide   CBP Inspectors Make Another Record Heroin Seizure at El Paso Port   CBP Inspectors Seize $268,936 in Eagle Pass; Husband, Wife Arrested   CBP Inspectors Find Heroin in Teddy Bear   CBP Signs $500 Million Contract With Chenega Technology Services Corporation   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Dedicates New Office Space in Newark, New Jersey ...more on cbp.gov:   Press Officers   CBP News Releases

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EL PASO, TX--U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors working at the El Paso Port of Entry seized 60.8 pounds of heroin Thursday night. The seizure is believed to be a record for the El Paso port of entry, surpassing a 38-pound heroin seizure made in the 1980s. The seizure almost equals the total heroin seized at the El Paso port during the last four fiscal years combined. From fiscal year 1999 to fiscal year 2002, inspectors at the El Paso port seized 62 pounds of heroin in 36 seizures.

The 60.8-pound heroin seizure was made Thursday night when a 1990 International tractor entered the Bridge of the Americas cargo facility from Mexico. A CBP inspector at the primary inspection booth noticed discrepancies in the appearance of the tractor and referred the vehicle for a VACIS gamma-ray inspection. A scan of the tractor revealed a dense area in the back wall of the cab. Two CBP drug-sniffing dogs alerted to the rear wall of the tractor. CBP inspectors removed a false rear wall in the sleeper area, revealing a compartment containing 25 heroin-filled bundles.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents arrested the driver of the tractor. He is 35-year-old Silvestre Esquivel Salazar of Juarez, Mexico. He is slated to make his initial appearance before a federal magistrate this afternoon and is being charged with importation of a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

The initial ICE investigation reveals that Esquivel Salazar was recruited to drive the truck across the border by responding to a classified advertisement in a Juarez newspaper and meeting an individual on a street to accept the driving position. CBP and ICE officials stress that this unorthodox recruitment process should serve as an indicator that an individual may be placing himself at risk. Typical recruitment and hiring processes for drivers include meetings in offices (not a street corner, park or bar), paperwork being filled out, drug and alcohol tests being administered and other formal procedures. The public is encouraged to report these unorthodox recruitment efforts to ICE investigators by calling 915-231-3200 or 1-800-BE-ALERT toll free.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a new agency within the Department of Homeland Security that unifies U.S. Customs, Immigration and Agriculture inspectors and the Border Patrol.