Texas border officers discover $10.2M in drugs inside refrigerated trailer hauling roses, officials say

Border officers in Texas uncovered $10.2 million in narcotics that were hidden among a shipment of roses inside a refrigerated tractor trailer coming across the southern border, officials said last week.

The 2001 Freightliner truck with a manifest for a commercial shipment of cut flowers was stopped at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo on Dec. 21 and referred for a secondary inspection, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a news release on Dec. 26.

CBP officers and a canine officer conducted a non-intrusive inspection of the rig’s refrigerated trailer and discovered hundreds of pounds of alleged narcotics wrapped in bundles among the flowers, officials said.

The suspicious packages contained 164.72 pounds of alleged methamphetamine in powder form, 854.07 pounds of alleged methamphetamine in crystal form and 165.34 pounds of alleged cocaine, CBP said.

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The estimated street value of the narcotics totaled $10,298,520.

CBP said they seized the drugs while Homeland Security Investigations special agents were investigating the seizure. 

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No details about the driver were immediately provided.

“CBP is proud of the work our frontline officers do to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities,” said Laredo Port of Entry Port Director Alberto Flores. “This significant seizure is an example of ongoing operational efforts conducted daily to protect our borders.”

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During the first two months of Fiscal Year 2024, CBP said its agents and officers seized 7,200 pounds of cocaine and 29,065 pounds of meth nationwide.