Drug-sniffing dog finds half-pound of meth inside smuggler’s body, border agents say
A drug-sniffing dog smelled something suspicious on a woman at a United States-Mexico border crossing in Texas this week — and it turned out drugs were hidden inside her body, authorities said.
The 32-year-old U.S. citizen was walking through the Paso Del Norte border crossing in El Paso on Thursday afternoon when she was chosen for a secondary exam and a dog sniffed contraband on her, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a news release Friday.
“The search resulted in the discovery of a cylindrical object partially concealed in her vaginal cavity,” agents said. “Two additional bundles were also recovered later. The contents of the packages tested positive for methamphetamine.”
CBP said the meth weighed just over a half-pound.
The woman suspected of smuggling drugs faces charges and was turned over to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agents, according to CBP.
Smugglers cut a truck-sized hole to drive 16 through US-Mexico border wall, feds say
El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha said in a statement that “the vigilance and attention to detail applied by the CBP workforce routinely uncovers drug smuggling cases.”
U.S. border agents have intercepted 14 drug-smuggling attempts over the last week alone in El Paso, west Texas and New Mexico, according to CBP. That includes 894 pounds of marijuana, 35.7 pounds of cocaine and 51.2 pounds of methamphetamine.
“Every drug load we stop helps keep our local community safe as well as those in America’s heartland,” Mancha said.
Beyond drug busts, border agents in the region stopped a weapon and ammunition smuggling attempt in the last week, as well as stopping 21 wanted individuals and charging “$1,450 in civil penalties linked to eight agricultural violations,” CBP said.
