U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials recently confiscated over $2.8 million in cocaine and methamphetamine at the southern border in two separate investigations involving suspected drug smugglers.
CBP officials detected approximately 430 pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in California on April 7 and 8.
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They initially seized cocaine after a 51-year-old Mexican man driving a Toyota Prius was referred for a secondary inspection.
During a physical check of the car after receiving a warning from a canine team, investigators discovered 44 bags of cocaine secreted within the doors, back seat, and rear quarter panels.
According to a news announcement shared with Fox News Digital, the pills weighed around 124 pounds and had an estimated worth of $2.4 million.
The next day, CBP submitted a 21-year-old US citizen driving a Nissan Frontier to secondary inspection.
A canine team and an imaging system scan led authorities to a compartment in the truck bed, where they recovered 25 parcels carrying approximately 307 pounds of methamphetamine.
The CBP put the medications’ value at $491,200.
Both drivers were detained and will face federal charges.
The seizures illustrate federal officials’ continuous efforts to combat drug trafficking along the southern border, where gangs deploy increasingly sophisticated smuggling techniques such as hidden truck compartments and trusted traveler routes.
According to officials, both US citizens and foreign nationals are regularly recruited to transport drugs via ports of entry. “These back-to-back seizures stopped dangerous criminals in their tracks and kept deadly narcotics from reaching our communities,” Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa Hernandez stated. “By combining their professional expertise with advanced technology, our officers demonstrate their commitment to securing our borders and keeping our country safe.”
The two drug busts occur after President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, complimented immigration policy and border police tactics.”He saves thousands of lives each year because he has a secure border,” Homan said of the president while speaking outside the White House. “Where President Trump had the most secure border in the lifetime of this nation, right now, lives are being saved.”Human traffickers are out of business, correct? “The cartels are going bankrupt because of that secure border,” he added.
