US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is one of the first to see the innovation coming from the Mexican drug cartels. While they tend to do a lot of reinventing the wheel to smuggle drugs across the border, the twists are always special. This time, CBP found 25 packages of methamphetamine stuffed into an ice chest with frozen fish. Found during a secondary inspection of a car being operated by a 34-year-old male, the driver was attempting to clear the Calexico West Port of Entry.
Per the CBP statement, “In the secondary inspection area, a non-intrusive inspection of the vehicle was conducted. CBP officers utilized the port’s imaging system to screen the vehicle and observed irregularities within an ice chest found in the vehicle’s trunk. A CBP K-9 team responded and alerted to the presence of narcotics. CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 25 packages from the ice chest. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine with a total weight of 47.13 pounds.”
Discovered through the efforts of Operation Apollo, it was a byproduct of their fentanyl-targeting mission. Originating back in October 2023 in southern California, it recently spread through Arizona earlier in April. With federal, state, local, and even tribal officers getting in on this, resources are being pooled, more collaborations are being formed, and they are achieving more success.
Tactics like these are old hat for the cartel in a sense, but they have forever hidden them in with larger shipments. An ice chest with frozen fish and meth in the trunk of a normal car is not usually the route they like to take. Too small for the level of risk. Usually, they like to go full bore at it and send massive shipments with multiple vehicles for a higher success probability. Makes ya wonder what will be next.
