Some fake red fire extinguishers have yielded more
than $2.7 million worth of methamphetamine at a South Texas border checkpoint.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials late
Monday announced details of the bust at the Falfurrias checkpoint on U.S. 281.
Authorities using a drug-sniffing dog were led to
the tool box of a pickup truck. Agents searched the vehicle and discovered
nearly 86 pounds of methamphetamine in four containers that look like fire
extinguishers.
Investigators did not immediately provide further
details on Friday’s drug bust.
Breitbart Texas confirmed that 86 pounds-worth
of methamphetamine were discovered inside four fire extinguishers. Border
Patrol agents conducted the bust on April 18 at the Falfurrias checkpoint
in South Texas.
Daniel Tirado, a spokesman for the Rio Grande
Valley Border Patrol Sector, told Breitbart Texas that a K-9 unit initially
alerted officers that there were drugs inside a vehicle attempting to
cross the border.
Further inspection revealed a massive amount of
meth hidden inside fake red extinguishers.
The confiscated drugs have an estimated street value
of over $2.7 million.
Tirado said there were two individuals in the
vehicle at the time of the seizure.
Although the recent incident may seem extraordinary,
Tirado said situations like this are not uncommon on the Texas/Mexican
border.
"Smugglers are very creative," he said.
"We've seen drugs in concrete, batteries, just about anything you can
think of. Our agents are well-experienced in detecting these methods. K-9
alerts make it relatively easy for agents to pinpoint the drugs."
At this time, it is not known if the suspects are
U.S. citizens or foreign nationals.
The incident is only the most recent in a string of
large-scale narcotic seizures along Texas' southern border this year.
In early April, Breitbart Texas reported on an incident in
which $81,000 worth of meth and heroin were reportedly confiscated from a
Mexican national. The U.S. Border Patrol stated that the drugs were being held
in several vacuum-sealed bags. The smuggler allegedly tried to hide the bags in
his vehicle's fuel tank.
Tirado said that agents in his area seize about
1,300 pounds of narcotics every week. He added, "The sizes of busts
vary."
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