Smugglers ditches car with bundles of marijuana in the Rio Grande

Drug smugglers drove a van hauling multiple bundles of marijuana into the Rio Grande at the US-Mexico border before ditching the vehicle and escaping into Mexico, border officials in Texas said Monday.

The incident happened on Saturday when Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector tried to stop a Chevrolet Suburban believed to have loaded narcotics near the Rio Grande in Brownsville, US Customs and Border Protection said. 

Agents witnessed the van drive toward the river and into the water. The driver and a passenger were seen leaving the van and running into Mexico.

The van contained 10 bundles of marijuana weighing more than 220 pounds and valued at more than $192,000, officials said.

The following morning, agents responded to another case of illicit activity near Cuevitas and found four bundles of marijuana abandoned in the brush. No smugglers were located in the area.

The bundles weighed approximately 160 pounds and were valued at nearly $128,000.

Both cases are the latest marijuana seizures made in the area.

Agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector seized nearly 28,000 pounds of marijuana between October 1, 2021, and July 30, according to the agency.