Feds Bust Cartel Meth Smugglers on US Southern Border

Increased seizures reflect an increase in cartel drug smuggling efforts

(US Customs & Border Protection photo)

Federal Officers are continuing to put a significant dent in the cartels' meth smuggling operations, following up on a string of recent large-scale seizures, with even more huge busts.

The El Centro Border Patrol Sector last week announced some huge seizures as part of an enforcement effort called "Operation Hourglass" :

• 1,374 pounds of meth

• 455 pounds of cocaine

• 445 pounds of fentanyl

• plus a large amount of forfeited cash

2,390+ pounds of drugs (along with a large amount of cash) seized by El Centro, California Sector Border Patrol Agents (US Border Patrol Photos)

On March 2, 2025, agents at the Campo Border Patrol Checkpoint on Interstate 8 discovered a hidden compartment under the bed of a pick-up truck that contained 35 large foil-wrapped packages. Once unwrapped, the Border Patrol Agents found 198 pounds of meth worth $436,300.

Border Patrol Agents at the Campo, California checkpoint discovered 198 pounds of meth hidden within this pick-up truck. (US Customs & Border Protection photo)

US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Agents at the Otay Mesa International Border Crossing discovered more than 116 pounds of meth that Cartel Smugglers tried to drive into California from Mexico on Friday, March 7, 2025:

Cartel smugglers failed in their attempts to drive these loads of meth through the Otay Mesa, California checkpoint (March 7, 2025) Photos by: US Customs & Border Protection

The federal agents in California were not alone in making large meth seizures this month. Agents in South Texas have also been busy:

CBP Officers on the Pharr International Bridge took a closer look at a tractor-trailer hauling Persian Limes from Mexico on March 7, 2025, - and found that was not all it was hauling.

279 pounds of meth discovered within a shipment of limes crossing the Pharr International Bridge in South Texas (March 7, 2025) Photos by: US Customs & Border Protection

Aided by the sharp nose of a K9, the CBP Agents found 279 pounds of meth hidden inside the truck's cargo of limes. That's a load of drugs worth more than $2.4 million dollars a Mexican Cartel just lost.

(Incidentally, this is not the first time that Cartel Smugglers have used a large load of limes to move a large load of drugs on the Pharr International Bridge. In 2017, smugglers tried disguising 3,947 pounds of pot as key limes and mixing the fake "limes" with real ones. The ruse did not fool US Federal Agents).

Marijuana disguised as a "lime" for a smuggling attempt on the Pharr International Bridge (January 30, 2017) Photo by: US Customs & Border Protection

Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Lieutenant Chris Olivarez says the numbers of drug busts along the border with Mexico are increasing because the cartels’ human smuggling businesses have recently declined —- so they are stepping up their drug smuggling operations to make up for the drop in profits:

Should more be done to keep cartel drugs off US streets?

Share your opinion in the comments on this article!

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

Jack Beavers - US Border News