CBP Enforcement Actions Remain High at Area El Paso Ports of Entry during Holiday Weekend

El Paso, Texas -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at El Paso area ports of entry made seven marijuana seizures during the weekend. CBP officers confiscated a total of 1333 pounds of marijuana.

“The layered enforcement approach CBP utilizes helped in making these seizures,” said Ana Hinojosa, CBP director of field operations in El Paso. “These interdictions remove a sizeable amount of marijuana from the streets of our communities and out of the reach of our youth.”

In addition to the marijuana seizures, CBP officers working at El Paso area ports of entry also uncovered 46 immigration violations. Intended immigrants made up a large group of the violators. A total of 26 were identified through thorough document exams. In these cases individuals will use a legally issued border-crossing card (laser visa) to live or work in the U.S., which is not authorized. Violators generally lose their documents and are returned to Mexico.

CBP officers also identified 12 impostors while performing inspections at area ports. Impostors generally will use a legitimate entry document assigned to another person and present it as their own. CBP officers also recorded six cases of people making false claims to U.S. citizenship, people attempting to enter with counterfeit or altered documents, and visa overstay violations.

CBP officers and Border Patrol agents performing southbound exams this weekend also apprehended two people who were attempting to leave the United States after having previously entered the U.S. without proper inspection. They also identified two vehicle export violations generating $800 in penalties.

CBP officers working at area ports took eight people into custody who were being sought on outstanding warrants and lookouts to include a missing person, failure to appear, dissuading a witness and turning over Army personnel to Fort Bliss Military Police for entering Mexico defiant to “Standing Order.

CBP agriculture specialists working at area ports made two seizures of prohibited food and agricultural items this weekend, resulting in $350 in fines being assessed. Prohibited items seized this weekend included pork, chorizo, bologna, ham and various fruits.

CBP Field Operations is responsible for securing our borders at the ports of entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers’ primary mission is anti-terrorism; they screen all people, vehicles, and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel into and out of the United States. Their mission also includes carrying out traditional border-related responsibilities, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration law, protecting the nation’s food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases, and enforcing trade laws.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.