PHARR, TX - Another day, another concealed package of over $1 million dollars of narcotics found in a shipment of fresh produce. Last week, agents at the Pharr International Bridge U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office seized 151 pounds of cocaine in a seemingly innocent commercial shipment of mangos.

“Our officers have once again demonstrated great awareness and diligence with the interception of these... outstanding seizures of narcotics at our cargo facility,” shared Port Director Efrain Solis Jr., Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “Balancing the trade facilitation aspect of cargo processing with an enforcement mindset is a function of CBP Field Operations that is accomplished on a daily basis.”

On the evening of May 17, a Customs and Border Protection agency press release explained that a 51-year-old man from Michoacán, Mexico arrived at the border hauling a commercial shipment of fresh mangos. Open inspection, a CBP officer discovered 60 packages of alleged cocaine, valued at nearly $1,165,000.

The man was subsequently arrested, and ultimately turned them over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents for further investigation.

This seizure comes almost exactly one month following the discovery of 107 pounds of methamphetamine in a mango shipment at Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. 

In a world where there will always be narcotics, and a world where there will always be fresh produce, you can be sure that AndNowUKnow will continue to unearth their inevitable illicit mixtures.