Border Patrol Makes Major Drug Seizures, Halts Human Smuggling in 24-Hour Period

The U.S. Border Patrol seizes substantial quantities of drugs—251 pounds of cocaine, 154 pounds of marijuana, 60 pounds of meth, 20 firearms—in 24 hours. Human smuggling attempts also thwarted, raising concerns amid border criticism.

A border patrol boat navigates through the Grand River in Eagle Pass, Texas, as seen from Piedras Negras, Coahuila state, Mexico, on Aug. 4, 2023. Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images

Border patrol agents intercepted 251 pounds of cocaine, 154 pounds of marijuana, 60 pounds of methamphetamines, and 20 firearms in one 24-hour period between Aug. 16 and Aug. 17.

United States Border Protection Chief Jason Owens posted about his agency’s progress on X, formerly Twitter, saying the seizures were “all in a day’s work for the men and women in green keeping you safe.”

News of increased drug trafficking through the southern border comes as President Joe Biden faces growing criticism for his administration’s failure to enforce the border between the United States and Mexico.

Mr. Owens also posted about the day before, saying that agents in El Paso and Tucson arrested two sex offenders convicted of felony rape attempting to enter the country.

In El Paso, “Agents arrested a Guatemalan national wanted for ‘rape & rebellion,’” Mr. Owens’s post said. “In [Tucson], agents arrested a Mexican national convicted of 1st-degree felony rape. Both will be prosecuted.”

On the same day as Mr. Owens’s post, Aug. 17, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent out a press release announcing that CBP officers intercepted three attempts at human smuggling within 24 hours at the Del Rio port of entry on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13.

“These three events serve as a resounding reminder that our vigilance and determination are crucial in safeguarding our nation’s borders. They are a testament to our unwavering commitment to our border security mission,” said Del Rio port of entry director Liliana Flores, according to the press release.

The agency outlined the interactions that led to the apprehensions, saying that in one instance, a male United States citizen arriving from Mexico presented the birth certificate of an 11-year-old minor male.

Agents later discovered the child was a Mexican citizen with no valid documents to enter the United States.

In another instance, a vehicle driven by a female United States citizen arriving from Mexico presented a U.S. birth certificate for a 5-year-old female passenger.

That child was also found to have been a Mexican citizen without legal documents to enter the United States.

The third interaction involved an adult female and her two children, who were all being brought to the United States without proper documentation.

Reports on Drug Trafficking

As of June of 2023, CBP agents had seized 22,000 pounds of fentanyl, 175,000 pounds of methamphetamine, and more than 70,000 pounds of cocaine at ports of entry across the United States. This is enough lethal doses of drugs to kill 6.4 billion people—or 19 times the U.S. population.

The report from CBP indicated that agents stationed at the southern border seized 43,600 pounds of drugs in June alone and 412,000 pounds for the year so far.

The drugs confiscated in 2023 thus far is greater than the amount seized in all of fiscal year 2022 and is exclusive of what was seized by state and other federal agencies.

A lethal dose of cocaine can be as little as 30 milligrams, and a lethal dose of methamphetamine is about 200 milligrams. Those figures indicated that CBP has found enough methamphetamine to kill nearly 397 million people and enough cocaine to kill more than 1 billion people.

The lethal dose of fentanyl is as little as two milligrams, making one pound of the drug equivalent to 453,592 milligrams, or enough to kill 226,796 people, and 22,000 pounds is enough to kill nearly 5 billion people.

Legislative Actions

Several U.S. senators have introduced legislation they hope will increase access to fentanyl testing strips nationwide in an effort to prevent fentanyl-related deaths.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) authored the Fentanyl Safe Testing and Overdose Act that would amend the Controlled Substances Act and decriminalize the possession of the testing strips, which are currently classified as drug paraphernalia.

The bipartisan legislation is also co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), along with Democrat Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

“Fentanyl is ravaging Texas communities, and poisonings among children and teenagers have skyrocketed in recent years given the rise in fake prescription pills containing this deadly drug,” Mr. Cornyn said in a joint statement.

“This legislation would help prevent deaths due to fentanyl poisoning by giving people the tools to identify it, and I urge my colleagues to pass it without delay.”

Frustration with how the border has been treated, however, has caused House Democrats to seek an investigation into Texas’ separation of illegal immigrants.

In an Aug. 15 letter issued to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) called for an immediate, thorough, and public inquiry of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) separation of illegal immigrant families.

CHC Chair Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.) said that: “The reports that children and families at the U.S.-Mexico border are being traumatized through cruel separation tactics ordered by Governor Greg Abbott are disturbing.”

The lawmaker asserted that Mr. Abbott has escalated the “inhumane” border policies, which she asserts are causing harm to “innocent people.”

Brian Jung and Jana Pruet contributed to this report.