By Steve Neavling
The U.S. Border Patrol reported its largest-ever fentanyl seizure after arresting an individual attempting to smuggle more than half a ton of the synthetic opioid across the Mexican border.
CBP officers seized about 4 million blue fentanyl pills at the Port of Lukeville in Arizona, the agency announced Thursday.
“This is the largest fentanyl seizure in CBP’s history, and reflects our unwavering determination to protect our nation and to disrupt the criminal activities of ruthless drug cartels,” said Troy Miller, CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner. “Every day, CBP officers and agents are on our front line, using their keen instincts and the latest technology to prevent deadly drugs from entering our country and poisoning our communities.”
The seizure was made on July 1 after a 20-year-old Arizona man, who is a U.S. citizen, arrived at the port driving a 2011 pickup truck that was hauling a sport recreational vehicle on a utility trailer.
CBP officers ordered the driver to pull aside for a more intensive inspection. During the inspection, officers noticed “anomalies throughout the frame of the trailer.”
With the help of a CBP canine team, officers found 234 packages of drugs inside the frame of the trailer.
“This is an enormous amount of dangerous drugs that officers at the Port of Lukeville prevented from reaching communities throughout the United States,” Guadalupe Ramirez, director of field operations at the Tucson Field Office, said in a statement.
Several days later, CBP officers at the same port seized about 270 pounds of methamphetamine.
The street value of both seizures amounted to more than $12.6 million.
