EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — South Texas border officers arrested a Dallas woman and her teenage son after they attempted to smuggle nearly $3 million worth of meth and heroin into the country, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.
CBP officers staffing ordered the mother and son to a secondary inspection of their vehicle at the Hidalgo International Bridge in McAllen. Using non-intrusive imaging, officers detected packages of possible narcotics inside all four tires of the Toyota 4 Runner.
Officers said the packages — 23 in total — contained 134.5 pounds of methamphetamine and 5.73 pounds of heroin worth an estimated $2.9 million.
“Excellent teamwork and outstanding observational techniques allowed our frontline officers to discover these hard narcotics, which won’t make their way into our communities,” said Carlos Rodriguez, director of the ports of Hidalgo, Pharr, and Anzalduas.
The 42-year-old woman and her 18-year-old were over to the custody of agents with Homeland Security Investigations. Customs confiscated the drugs and the vehicle.
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