More and more Mexico drugs are coming here is this because with more and more illegals aliens this also brings increases in drugs,crimes.Is EL PASO THE GATEWAY FOR DRUGS?
EL Paso set's the tone.Bridge inspectors seize 1,667 pounds of pot (5:18 p.m.)
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
El Paso bridge inspectors made their second-largest drug bust of the year Tuesday at the Bridge of the Americas commercial cargo facility when they found 1,677 pounds of marijuana in a shipment of light fixtures, Customs and Border Protection officials said.
The estimated street value of the drugs is $1.7 million. No arrests were made.
Drug smugglers are increasingly attempting to cross narcotics strapped to the bodies of passengers in vehicles at the international bridges in El Paso, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.
The latest reported seizure occurred about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Paso del Norte Bridge when two Juárez women were found with a total of 32 pounds of cocaine hidden in girdles they were wearing, federal officials said. The women were passengers in a 1993 Buick Century.
"It used to be very rare, almost never seen, that someone would have dope strapped to their body when they were in a vehicle. It used to be mostly pedestrians coming in the (pedestrian) line" with contraband on their bodies, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier said.
Maier said border inspectors in the past 12 months have seen an upward trend in similar smuggling attempts. An exact number of cases was not immediately available.
The girdle cases have involved both men and women. The drug is usually cocaine, which has a higher dollar value than marijuana."It's another thing the officers have to focus on, another threat," Maier said.
In the Tuesday incident, an officer at an inspection booth at the Paso del Norte Bridge became suspicious when some of the occupants in the car were nervous and had a bulky appearance, officials said.
The Buick was sent to secondary inspection.
An officer spotted a bundle in the waistband of one of the women as she got out of the car. A drug-sniffing dog reacted to that woman's seat in the car. A subsequent pat-down search of the women led to the discovery of the cocaine.
Photos provided by Customs and Border Protection showed that both women had large builds.
Martha Alicia Rincon Marquez, 36, was allegedly wearing a girdle with five bundles weighing a total of 13.1 pounds of cocaine. Maria Del Carmen Castro Lucero, also 36, allegedly had five bundles totaling 18.9 pounds of cocaine, Customs and Border Protection officials said. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $640,000.
"This important and sizeable seizure was the direct result of a diligent and focused CBP officer performing a thorough primary inspection," CBP El Paso Port Director David Longoria said in a news release. An investigation continues.
2006-10-04
16:03:44
·
13 answers
·
asked by
Zoe
4