CBP Laredo reports fiscal year 2022 seizure results

LAREDO, TX – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at eight South Texas ports of entry seized a significant amount of narcotics, undeclared money, weapons and uncovered numerous immigration violations during FY 2022.

According to CBP information, FY 2022 saw a notable 177 percent increase in the number of encounters and a 19 percent increase in cocaine seized.  FY 2022 began on October 1, 2021 and ended on September 30, 2022.

“As non-essential traffic resumed early in FY 2022, overall workload volumes returned to normal, but CBP officers continued to experience the ongoing trend of hard narcotics, particularly cocaine and significant increases in encounters of individuals without valid entry documents,” said Director (Acting) of Field Operations Eugene Crawford, Laredo Field Office.

“The volume of hard narcotics underscores the seriousness of the drug threat we face, and hemispheric economic and security challenges also tend to drive migration volumes,” he added.

During FY 2022, CBP officers at the eight ports of entry stretching from Brownsville to Del Rio and comprising the Laredo Field Office seized 47,755 pounds of narcotics that would have commanded a combined estimated street value of $436 million.

Specifically, officers seized 6,578 pounds of marijuana; 10,243 pounds of cocaine, up 19 percent from FY21; nearly 30,476 pounds of methamphetamine; 176 pounds of heroin; nearly 282 pounds of fentanyl; $5.8 million in undeclared currency; 320 weapons; and 78,487 rounds of ammunition.

CBP officers at Laredo Field Office ports of entry in FY 2022 also determined that more than 57,732 non-U.S. citizens were inadmissible to the U.S. due to immigration law violations, up 177 percent from FY 21.

CBP agriculture specialists intercepted 99,264 items of quarantined animal and plant material and 5,015 pests.