U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers say they stopped an attempt to smuggle some 900,000 fentanyl pills with an estimated street value of $2.5 million at an entry port in California.
CBP officers at the Otay Mesa port in San Diego county, the busiest commercial port in California, said they seized nearly 190 pounds of fentanyl last week, with roughly 858 blue pills concealed inside of porcelain sinks.
A 45-year-old Mexican national “presented a valid border crossing card and a shipping manifest for two porcelain sinks,” according to a statement by CBP, but inspection of the man’s vehicle revealed “anomalies within the shipment.”
The estimated street value of the 12 packages of pills was more than $2.5 million, according to the agency.
Border patrol seized the pills and the vehicle, and turned the driver over to Homeland Security Investigations. CBP data show officers have seized nearly 20,000 pounds of fentanyl in nearly 900 seizure events so far in the fiscal year 2023.
“Narcotics traffickers will try new and innovative ways to smuggle dangerous drugs across our borders, but CBP officers are always on their toes,” Port Director Rosa Hernandez said in the statement.
A move to up inspections led to 900 pounds of fentanyl seized by CBP in a single week earlier this year. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement back in March that DHS has seized more fentanyl in the past two years than in the previous five years combined.
Fentanyl smuggling and concerns about the synthetic opioid's dangers has put strains on the U.S.-Mexico relationship.
