CBP officers stop drugs, fake goods, pests

CBP officers stop drugs, fake goods, pests    U.S. authorities on March 7 intercepted more than 11,000 pounds of marijuana on two tractor-trailers at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry.
   Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators alerted Customs officers at border crossing that smugglers were attempting to move two trucks laden with the recreational drug through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales.
   Agents followed the first truck a short distance before stopping it and searching the vehicle with drug detector dogs. The search revealed a false compartment containing the marijuana.
   CBP officers in the truck lanes identified the second truck and referred it for an X-ray exam, which also revealed a false compartment with drugs, according to a CBP news release on Thursday.
   The seized drugs have an estimated street value of $6.6 million.
   CBP officers are also busy in Cincinnati, where they have seized more than $30 million in counterfeit checks and money orders since the start of the year at the DHL's main U.S. parcel hub.
   Most of the fake financial instruments originated in West Africa. CBP warned recipients to be aware of international scams that claim a recipient has won a lottery, or received an overpayment. Recipients are instructed to cash the fake cashier's check and wire the taxes for the lottery proceeds, or the overpayment difference, to an overseas account.
   CBP said people who are swindled never see the money they send and are responsible for paying back the bank the entire amount they received for the fake check.
   The agency also said last week that agriculture specialists in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., intercepted three pests in December and January that have never been seen before in the United States.
   An adult beetle was discovered in a container of railroad ties from Argentina on Dec. 29. A routine inspection of a container full of okra unearthed a lawn moth, or burrowing webworm moth, that commonly infest home lawns. Officers also found a container of rail ties from Argentina infested with the adult beetle.
   All three containers were ordered to be fumigated.