A grandmother was caught attempting to smuggle dozens of pounds of methamphetamine across the border along with her grandchild, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities said.
"Smugglers will employ any and all forms of deception in an effort to blend in with legitimate traffic in an attempt to decrease suspicion that they are involved in illicit activity," said El Paso Port Director Ray Provencio in a statement related to the incident, according to Border Report.
The episode in question took place on Sunday when a 55-year-old woman was detained while traveling with her teenage grandchild. Their vehicle was referred for a secondary exam after an officer saw a bundle in the rear quarter panel. The presence of drugs was confirmed by a drug-sniffing dog and then an X-ray scan. After finding the bundles, authorities determined that there were attempting to smuggle 70 pounds of meth.
A similar incident took place in late April, when officers seized millions of dollars worth of meth at a port of entry in El Paso. CBP informed that the episode took place at the Eagle Pass International Bridge when an officer referred a pickup truck for secondary inspection, which revealed over 1,100 pounds of the substance within an external fuel tank.
CBP then seized both the drugs, which authorities say have a street value of over $10.5 million, and the truck. The driver, a 46-year-old Mexican citizen, was arrested.
Across the border, a recent operation neutralized a clandestine laboratory allegedly used by Los Chapitosto produce synthetic drugs, including methamphetamine. The operation took place in early May in La Palma, a small community of about 300 residents located in a mountainous area near the Sinaloa-Chihuahua state border.
According to a statement from the Mexican Navy, authorities seized approximately 250 kilograms of methamphetamine in the drying process, along with 650 liters of liquid chemical precursors and 2,425 kilograms of solid precursors.
Federal sources say the lab in La Palma belonged to Los Chapitos, one of two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel battling for control in the state since September 2024.
The lab, along with the chemicals and equipment, was destroyed on-site. The Navy emphasized that destroying clandestine labs is part of ongoing efforts to combat the production and distribution of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl.
In April alone, state and federal officials neutralized 20 "narco labs" allegedly used by drug cartels to produce synthetic drugs. The majority of the labs were found in the municipalities of Culiacán, Cosalá, and Navolato, according to the Sinaloa Secretariat of Public Safety.
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