August 18, 09

NEWS / CBP Officers Discover 2 Meth-Filled Bundles in Travelers Waistband

El Paso, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Ysleta international crossing at the El Paso port of entry made an unusual crystal methamphetamine seizure Friday afternoon. The drugs were concealed in the waistband of a pedestrian border crosser.


The seizure was made at noon on Friday when a man applied for entry to the United States via the pedestrian lanes at the Ysleta crossing. A CBP officer working at the primary inspection station noticed unexplained bulges in the waist area of the man and initiated an inspection. The CBP officer found two bundles hidden along the waist line of the man’s pants.

A further examination revealed that the tape wrapped bundles were food containers filled with a material that looked like shards of glass. CBP officers tested the substance and received a positive match for methamphetamine. The drugs weighed 1.55 pounds.


“The primary CBP officer on duty was thorough and focused and was able to identify this pedestrian as a person who needed additional scrutiny,” said William Molaski, CBP port director El Paso, Texas.


CBP officers arrested the smuggler, who is identified as 26-year-old Carlos Alberto Gonzalez Payan, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents and booked into the El Paso County Jail where he is being held without bond.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/08172009.xml