US Border: Large Drug Seizures Surge in January
Federal Officers have shut down several large-scale smuggling attempts
US Federal Agents are racking up substantial seizures of Mexican Cartel drugs along the border this month. For example, the US Border Patrol (USBP) seized 1,670 pounds of narcotics worth $6 million during one recent seven-day period in January.
Here's a look at some notable seizures over the past few days:
Texas: $8.1 Million Dollar Meth Seizure:
On Friday, January 24, 2025, US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Officers discovered a huge load of methamphetamine a smuggler attempted to drive over Laredo's World Trade Bridge. The seizure weighed in at almost 890 pounds with a street value of well over $8 million dollars.
Texas: $1.4 Million Dollar Cocaine Seizures:
On the same day, CBP Officers stopped attempts to smuggle large loads of cocaine across two International Bridges there. The two seizures added up to more than 107 pounds of cocaine worth more than $1.4 million dollars.
California: 182-pound Meth Seizures:
San Diego Sector Border Patrol Agents took down two loads of methamphetamine in less than an hour on January 18, 2025. The seizures occurred following vehicle stops on Interstate 8. Agents found 182 pounds of drugs worth more than $181,000 hidden in two smugglers' vehicles.
Arizona: 112-pound Meth Seizures:
Border Patrol Agents in the Tucson Sector have been busy tracking smugglers backpacking loads of drugs through the Arizona desert from Mexico. They recently caught two smugglers red-handed, resulting in the seizure of 112 pounds of methamphetamine.
California: 158 pounds of Drugs Hidden Throughout Vehicles:
CBP Officers at two International Crossing Points in Southern California got a crash course in auto mechanics while intercepting two smuggling attempts. The messier of two seizures occurred on January 22, 2025, at the Calexico West Port of Entry when four pounds of fentanyl powder was discovered hidden in the oil pan of a vehicle arriving from Mexicali.
In the larger of the two busts, CBP Officers found 137 packages of drugs inside the spare tire and gas tank of a vehicle a smuggler attempted to drive into Calexico, California, from Tijuana, Mexico, a day earlier. The mixed drug load consisted of 133 pounds of methamphetamine, 17 pounds of cocaine, and 4 pounds of white fentanyl powder.
Arizona: 72 pounds of Drugs, 2,100 rounds of Ammo, $79,000 Cash Seized:
Finally, CBP Officers in San Luis, Arizona, had their hands full last weekend dealing with multiple smuggling attempts between that US city and Sonora, Mexico.
Officers inspecting a VW sedan arriving from Mexico driven by a US teenager found 32 packages hidden beneath the carpet containing 70 pounds of fentanyl pills and two pounds of fentanyl powder.
CBP Officers stopped another US teen who was attempting to drive an SUV into Mexico and found more than 2,000 rounds of 39-millimeter ammunition hidden under his car seats. The ammo was likely intended to arm one of the cartels.
CBP Officers were also closely watching Mexico-bound pedestrians for potential smuggling and caught two women - one a US Citizen, the other a Legal Permanent Resident - attempting to walk into Sonora with a combined total of $79,426 in US dollars strapped to their bodies. These were likely profits from a cartel's US criminal enterprises being returned to them.
Do you believe more should be done to deter smuggling along the US Southern Border?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
Reading this correctly that all but 1 of seizures were after new administration took office, are we to conclude was due to new approach or just a fluke? And can we extrapolate to what was coming through in prior admin unchecked?