Customs and Border Protection officers say they arrested a Texas woman at the Pharr-Reyonsa International Bridge after discovering $1.5 million worth of alleged heroin hidden in the Volkswagen Jetta she was driving.
The 28-year-old woman from Edinburg, Texas was stopped as she was driving from Mexico on Monday, officials said in a statement on Wednesday.
A canine team then helped sniff out 24 packages of alleged heroin weighing 55 pounds, the CBP statement said.
The drugs were stashed inside the vehicle’s tires, and were identified as heroin, Breitbart reported.
The woman was turned over to the custody of agents with Homeland Security Investigations as the investigation continued, the CBP statement said. Her name was not released.
“Our officers’ relentless dedication to CBP's border security mission and robust enforcement posture contributed to the detection of these hard narcotics that will now be prevented from possibly inflicting harm within our communities,” Carlos Rodriguez, the director of Port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas said in the CBP statement.
The drug issue at the border has been of particular concern to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Last month, Abbott sent a letter to the Biden administration on the humanitarian crisis at the border, urging the designation of Mexican drug cartels as as foreign terrorist organizations.
The GOP governor’s letter to President Joe Biden and border czar Vice President Kamala Harris included a background document detailing how these drug cartels meet the 3-part test required for the designation.
"As governor of Texas, I urge you to take immediate action to combat the dangerous and deadly Mexican drug cartels," the letter reads. "These cartels bring terror into our communities. They smuggle narcotics and weapons into the United States to fund their illegal enterprises.
"They force women and children into human and sex trafficking — enriching themselves on the misery and enslavement of immigrants. They murder innocent people, including women and children. These Mexican drug cartels are foreign terrorist organizations, and it is time for the federal government to designate them as such."
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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