EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Unusually large cushions on a motorized wheelchair piqued the interest of officers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport last month in Houston, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
Their suspicions were right.
Officers also said they noticed that the metal compartment did not appear to be factory-made and was inconsistent with the seat frame, so they ran it through an X-ray.
They also brought in a drug-sniffing dog that alerted officers to the presence of narcotics and they ended up finding 11 packages hidden in the backrest and seat.
The contents in the packages tested positive for cocaine and weighed just under 27 pounds.
CBP Acting Area Port Director Kayla Gonzalez praised the agency’s efforts for “protecting the border and keeping Americans safe.”
“Cocaine is a deadly, dangerous drug and the trafficking of these poisons leads to increased violence, money laundering, and other criminal activity that threatens our safety and local communities,” she said.
CBP said the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement throughout the United States have seen increased seizures and overdose cases involving cocaine mixed with fentanyl. In Fiscal Year 2024, which ended on Monday, CBP seized just over 60 kilograms of cocaine at and between Ports of Entry (POE).
According to recently released CBP data, officers and border agents saw a 27% drop in fentanyl seizures from Fiscal Year 2023 to Fiscal Year 2024. The majority of the 44 pounds of fentanyl seized last fiscal year was at ports of entry.
Homeland Security Investigations will investigate last month’s cocaine seizure at the airport.
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