WASHINGTON – Customs and Border Protection officers seized cocaine valued at more than $1.1 million during a single day in Texas.
The seizures happened on Friday, June 26th, at Roma International Bridge and Gateway International Bridge, within a 24-hour period, from vehicles crossing the southern border.
The Roma bridge and the Gateway bridge, which is in Brownsville, are popular points for smugglers to attempt to bring drugs into the United States given their location across the Rio Grande River from Mexico. The narcotics are often hidden inside commercial shipments like soft drinks, cinder blocks, or even cucumbers.
The seizure in Roma came from a 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe after it failed a canine inspection. CBP officers recovered 60.49 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $807,723.
The Brownsville seizure came from a secondary inspection of a 2026 Toyota Sequoia. Officers discovered 22.84 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $304,956.
The drugs and the vehicles were seized. Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested the drivers and initiated criminal investigations in both cases.
“These seizures, occurring simultaneously at different Laredo Field Office ports of entry, clearly demonstrate the persistent drug threat our officers confront daily,” said Laredo’s acting Director of Field Operations Paul Del Rincon in a statement.
Given its border with Mexico, Texas is a popular entry point for drugs. Millions of dollars worth of narcotics are seized along its southern border every year. President Trump has directed an aggressive enforcement strategy against the drug cartels to stop shipments into the United States.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told lawmakers in late June that Mexican cartels remain a major threat to national security.
He warned that “plazas,” or cartel-controlled territories where criminal organizations profit from illegal actions like drug trafficking, still linger at the border.
“There’s not one inch of Mexico’s northern border that isn’t covered by a plaza,” Mullin said. But he noted that Trump’s border wall helps as it creates “choke points” to help CBP officers in their work.
The Department of Homeland Security reported in May 2026 that it is seeing a record number of drug seizures at the halfway point of the year.
Nationwide in May, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana (combined, by weight) increased 32% from May 2024. And CBP seized 56% more drugs this fiscal year through May than it seized during the same period of FY 2024.
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