see also: in March 2004:   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 273 Pounds of Cocaine   CBP Border Patrol Agents Rescue Twenty-two civilians in Kyrgyzstan   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 2,800 Pounds of Marijuana   U.S. Customs And Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner Hails Supreme Court's Pro Border Search Ruling   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 2,800 Pounds of Marijuana   CBP Border Patrol Seizes $2.5 Million in Drugs   San Ysidro Port of Entry to Test New Procedure For Issuance of I-94 Permits to Mexican Travelers. ...more on cbp.gov:   CDSOA FY 2003   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Falfurrias, Texas - Early this morning, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol agents assigned to the McAllen Sector's Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint seized 1,624 pounds of marijuana with an estimated value of $1,299,200.00

CBP Border Patrol agents were conducting immigration checkpoint operations when a driver of a black 1996 Freightliner pulling a white utility trailer approached the checkpoint. A Border Patrol canine unit conducted a routine, non-intrusive inspection of the tractor and trailer. The canine positively alerted which resulted in the discovery of 1,624 pounds of marijuana hidden in a load of cabbage.

The 32-year-old driver, Jose David Gomez, a citizen of El Salvador, was arrested and subsequently turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Corpus Christi, Texas for further investigation.

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