Authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border uncovered 16.5 pounds of cocaine and firearm components stuffed in the engine of an SUV attempting to cross into the U.S. Saturday.
Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested the unidentified driver, a 26-year-old man from Chihuahua, and turned him over to investigators from the Department of Homeland Security. Officers initially noticed anomalies with the engine of the 1995 GMC Sonoma and called in a CBP canine team to investigate further, which discovered the hidden drugs, reports the Albuquerque Journal.
Officers found parts of firearms concealed in the engine and 10 packages filled with cocaine.
“The officers applied their training and experience to locate the drugs and weapon, apprehend the smuggler, and safely put an end to a volatile situation,” CBP Santa Teresa Port Director Ray Provencio said in a statement, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The cocaine is estimated to carry a street value of roughly $528,000, making it the second largest cocaine bust at the Santa Teresa port on the New Mexico border. Agents seized 31.5 pounds of cocaine March 29 worth roughly $1 million.
Relentless smuggling efforts from cartels operating in South and Central America require the continued vigilance of border agents and the U.S. military.
A U.S. Coast Guard vessel returned from a drug interdiction mission with a massive haul Sunday, seizing a total of 4,000 pounds of Colombian cocaine. The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Stratton made multiple interdictions, employing the use of an eight-foot ScanEagle surveillance drone to catch smugglers by surprise. Officials estimated the 4,000 pounds of seized cocaine carries a street value of more than $55 million. (RELATED: Coast Guard Seizes 4,000 Pounds Of Columbian Cocaine)
The Coast Guard seized nearly half a billion dollars of cocaine during a series of drug busts in the Pacific Ocean targeting smuggling routes over a 26-day period, returning to port March 28.
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