US-Mexico Border: Big Drug Busts by US & Mexican Agents
Cartels are feeling pressure from feds on both sides of the border
2025 is starting on a sour note for Mexican cartel smugglers- thanks to some big seizures by US & Mexican Federal Agents on both sides of the border in recent days. One of the biggest busts by far occured this week on the Pharr International Bridge.
The international crossing in Pharr is a busy one - with large loads of produce crossing into Texas following harvest time in Mexico - something smugglers try to take advantage of by hiding drugs inside some of those shipments.
Law enforcement agents are continually playing a game of "cat and mouse" as they inspect those large loads of fruit and veggies - and on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, the "cat" - in the form of CBP officers won.
They discovered 8,206 packages of methamphetamine and 26 packages of heroin mixed among a shipment of cucumbers and jalapeños. The meth weighed 2,217.85 pounds - a drug load weighing more than a ton and worth more than 19-and-a-half million dollars. The almost eight-pound load of heroin had a street value of more than 144 thousand dollars.
Two days later, the Mexican Army and National Guard announced a large-scale cartel crackdown in the state of Sonora, which borders Arizona and New Mexico. Their haul includes a semi-truck loaded with a ton of meth worth 18 million dollars, another semi-truck carrying hundreds of pounds of cocaine, and more than twenty military-grade automatic weapons.
Back on the US side of the border, officers at another South Texas crossing point foiled another large-scale smuggling attempt by one of the Mexican cartels. CBP Officers on the Roma International Bridge inspecting a semi-truck loaded with soft drinks found it was also hauling coke - and we're not talking about the soft drink.
The human and K9 CBP officers sniffed out 120 pounds of cocaine in 50 packages hidden within the drink shipment. That drug load was worth 1.6 million dollars.
A smuggler who attempted to bring a 220-pound load of meth from Mexico into California was arrested by CBP Officers at the Otay Mesa border crossing. The drugs were inside 112 packages hidden inside the rear quarter panel and trunk of the smuggler's vehicle. That drug load was worth about 265 thousand dollars.
On Tuesday, February 4, 2025, CBP Officers at a border crossing in San Luis, Arizona discovered 92 packages of meth hidden throughout a pick-up truck being driven into the US from Sonora Mexico. Drugs were found in a speaker box, tailgate, and spare tire. This drug load weighed in at 143 pounds and was worth almost 172 thousand dollars.
On Thursday, February 6, 2025, Border Patrol Agents in Indio, California, discovered 94 pounds of methamphetamine worth 113 thousand dollars hidden in the rear panels of a smuggler's vehicle. The agency hasn't released many details about that seizure except to confirm two arrests.
Meanwhile, Border Patrol Agents report discovering - and seizing - several camouflaged backpacks in the desert near Why, Arizona (likely dumped by smugglers who spotted them and fled) containing nearly 58 pounds of meth. The load was worth almost 70 thousand dollars.
The Chief of the US Border Patrol says that since October, his agents have seized 27 million dollars worth of methamphetamine nationwide.
Do you believe these latest busts are seriously disrupting Mexican Cartel Smuggling Operations?
Share your opinion in the comments on this article!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
I wrote this piece on how Democratic failures created a vacuum Trump is exploiting—why their message isn’t enough, why they need a movement, and why Obama is the only person who can build it.
Would love to hear your thoughts when you have a minute.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jasonegenberg/p/mr-president-the-country-needs-you?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web