see also: in February 2004:   CBP Border Patrol Agents Arrest Wanted Fugitives on Northern Border   CBP Delays Implementation of the Term "Shipper"   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 900 Pounds of Cocaine Valued at over $31 Million   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announces a Joint Agency Black History Month Event with Actor Tim Reid   CBP Border Patrol Agents Thwart Human Trafficking Operation   CBP Border Patrol Agents Seize Over $1.5 Million in Cocaine ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Rio Grande City, TX - In the last two days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol agents working in the Rio Grande City area have seized two large loads of marijuana with an estimated value of over $4 million.

On Wednesday, CBP Border Patrol agents working in conjunction with the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, seized 3,664 pounds of marijuana at a residence in Rio Grande City. The agents acting on a citizen's tip arrived at the residence and received consent to enter the residence and conducted a search of the premises. Agents located bundles and sacks of marijuana inside the residence, inside a vehicle and inside a tool shed.

The following day, Border Patrol agents working along the Rio Grande River detected footprints of a large group of people leading north from the river. As the agents tracked the group, they came upon seventeen bundles of marijuana, weighing 1,368 pounds, hidden in thick brush. The two seizures have an estimated value of over $4 million.

"Our agents are committed to effectively detect and interdict these dangerous drugs," said McAllen Sector Chief Patrol Agent Ramon T. Ortega. "We will continue to work together with local law enforcement in an effort to keep these drugs out of our communities."

The Border Patrol is a division of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for managing and securing our Nation's borders.