U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 270 bundles of cocaine from the Rio Grande Thursday. The drugs are worth more than $22.5 million, Customs and Border Protection said in a release.
Agents saw several people loading bundles of narcotics onto a utility vehicle near Garciasville, Texas, according to a release from CBP. The driver of the utility vehicle saw agents approaching and turned toward the river, rammed a gate and drove into the river, escaping with at least one other person. Agents say they swam back to Mexico with some of the narcotics.
After taking the utility vehicle out of the river, agents also discovered several communication devices, game-cameras and tire deflation devices (caltrops) likely intended to disable law enforcement vehicles, the release states.
Acting Chief Patrol Agent Raul Ortiz said this is an example of why more personnel, technology and infrastructure is needed at the border and said transnational criminal organizations continue to exploit areas along the border.
