HIDALGO, Texas — US Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Hidalgo International Bridge arrested two men in connection with a failed drug-smuggling attempt of alleged methamphetamine and heroin worth $1,298,000.
“I commend our frontline officers for their hard work and exceptional dedication to the CBP mission in helping keep dangerous drugs out of our communities,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “These interceptions of hard narcotics are indicative of the resiliency displayed by our officers every day, as they conduct daily operations.”
On November 10, 2020, a CBP officer assigned to the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge referred a 2007 Honda Accord for further inspection. Utilizing non-intrusive imaging (NII) equipment along with all available tools and resources as part of the secondary examination allowed the officers to discover that the vehicle’s gas tank contained hidden suspected narcotics. The extraction process produced 12 packages of alleged heroin weighing 27.34 pounds (12.40 kg) and bulk alleged methamphetamine weighing 33.90 pounds (15.38 kg). The street value of the narcotics is $620,000 and $678,000, respectively.
CBP OFO seized the narcotics, the vehicle and arrested two men, (21) and (23), both US citizens from McAllen and Hidalgo, Texas. They were turned over to the custody of agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for further investigation.