El Centro Sector Border Patrol Seizes 132 Pounds of Marijuana Dropped by Ultra-Light Aircraft

Calexico, Calif. – On Saturday, U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Calexico Station seized 132 pounds of marijuana that was dropped by an ultra-light aircraft.

The incident took place at around 11:14 p.m., after Border Patrol agents operating a mobile surveillance system detected a possible ultra-light aircraft traveling north into the United States from Mexico near the Calexico Downtown Port of Entry. The ultra-light aircraft was then observed traveling south back into Mexico. Agents responding to the incident were notified and conducted a ground search for a potential narcotics drop-off spot. After a thorough search, agents discovered six duct tape-wrapped bundles in the backyard of a Calexico residence.

At the Calexico Station, agents determined that the bundles contained marijuana, weighing 132 pounds, with an estimated street value of $106,000.

The marijuana was seized and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The U.S. Border Patrol is currently investigating the incident with its strategic partners in an effort to locate the escaped ultra-light aircraft.

The El Centro Sector’s Community Awareness Campaign is a simple and effective program to raise public awareness on the indicators of crime and other threats. We encourage public and private sector employees to remain vigilant and play a key role in keeping our country safe. Please report any suspicious activity to the Border Community Threat Hotline at (800) 901-2003.

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 official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

CBP Makes $362 Million Cocaine Bust

Florida-Based CBP P-3s Detect Two Drug Vessels

Washington — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) P-3, operating out of National Air Security Operations Center-Jacksonville (NASOC-JAX), detected two go-fast vessels carrying more than 4,840 pounds of cocaine with a combined value of more than $362 million.

On April 20, a P-3 operating in the Western Caribbean spotted two go-fast vessels 120 miles off the coast of Panama. The two 40-foot twin-engine vessels were spotted speeding north and appeared to be loaded with numerous packages when the Florida-based CBP P-3 began tracking them.

Local law enforcement assets were vectored in to pursue the two vessels, who attempted to evade authorities. One vessel abandoned the contraband before arriving on shore, while the second go-fast was seized nearby. A U.S. Navy vessel operating in the area retrieved 89 bales of cocaine from the scene.

This seizure is in addition to the $2.8 billion detected by the CBP P-3s operating out of Jacksonville, Fla. and Corpus Christi, Texas since October 2011.

During fiscal year 2011, the CBP P-3 fleet continued its anti-smuggling success by seizing or disrupting more than 148,000 pounds of cocaine valued at more than $11.1 billion, totaling 20.6 pounds seized for every flight hour, valued at $1.5 million for every hour flown.

CBP OAM P-3s have been an integral part of the successful counter-narcotic missions operating in coordination with the Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATFS). The P-3s patrol in a 42 million square mile area of the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, known as the Source and Transit Zone, in search of drugs that are in transit towards U.S. shores. The P-3s’ distinctive detection capabilities allow highly-trained crews to identify emerging threats well beyond the land borders of the U.S. By providing surveillance of known air, land, and maritime smuggling routes in an area that is twice the size of the continental U.S., the P-3s detect, monitor and disrupt smuggling activities before they reach shore.

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.

CBP Receives Second Predator-B in Texas

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Washington— U.S. Customs and Border Protection today received a second Unmanned Aircraft System Predator-B at the Naval Air Security Operations Center in Corpus Christi, Texas—the first of two UAS’s funded through the FY 2010 Southwest Border Security Bill Supplemental. The UAS will provide critical aerial surveillance for U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed along the Texas-Mexico border.

The CBP UAS Program operates Predator-Bs from operation centers in Sierra Vista, Ariz., and Corpus Christi, Texas—missions from both centers allow CBP to deploy unmanned aircraft along the Southwest border from the eastern tip of California across the common Mexican land borders of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

The UAS Operations Center in Corpus Christi supports counter-drug operations in the Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, disaster relief and humanitarian support in the Gulf Coast region, and rapid deployment throughout the southern tier of the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere.

Since its inception, the CBP UAS program has flown more than 11,500 UAS hours supporting border security operations and disaster relief and emergency response, including various state governments and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These border security efforts have led to the seizure of approximately 46,600 pounds of illicit drugs and the detention of approximately 7,500 individuals suspected in engaging in illegal activity along the Southwest Border.

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.