Border agents at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas found more than $25 million worth of methamphetamine concealed in a shipment that was manifested as cabbage, tomatillo, and cilantro.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) exclusively shared details on Monday with The Epoch Times about the significant seizure, highlighting the growing and historic amount of illegal drugs the agency has seized throughout the country this fiscal year.
“Our CBP officers’ skills and expertise continue to be on display as they take down another massive shipment of dangerous, illicit narcotics,” Port Director Carlos Rodriguez of the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas entry point said.
The encounter happened on Sept. 8, when CBP officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility referred a tractor-trailer displayed as carrying food products from Reynosa, Mexico, for a secondary inspection, which can include an X-ray scan and K9 screening.
Upon a physical inspection of the vehicle, agents discovered 1,164 packages of methamphetamine with a combined weight of 2,815 pounds, CBP said. That amount would have fetched $25.17 million had it been successfully smuggled into the United States.
A photo of the seizure provided to The Epoch Times showed five pallets with large boxes filled with the illegal narcotics.
The Office of Field Operations (OFO), a subagency within CBP, seized the methamphetamine and tractor-trailer, and Homeland Security Investigations special agents launched a criminal investigation.
This recent interception is the latest in what’s become a historic amount of drugs seized by CBP during this fiscal year, which runs from October to September, far surpassing previous years.
As of the latest data available, October 2025 to July, the agency has seized a total of 697,000 pounds of illegal narcotics.
Fiscal year 2025 yielded 583,000 pounds, 2024 was 573,000 pounds, and 2023 saw 549,000 pounds, according to the data.
CBP officials have explained that the over 100,000 pound increase in drug seizures under President Donald Trump was made possible through tougher border and immigration policies than the Biden administration.
As the flood of illegal immigrants at the southern border reduced to a fraction of what it was compared to previous years, border agents were able to shift from handling administrative and humanitarian work to security.
“Without having 400 or 500 people in detention making an asylum claim, I’m going to take those officers and say, ‘I don’t need you to process asylum claims, I need you out there looking for dope, looking for people smuggling, looking for those agriculture violations,’” Mariza Marin, port director at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, told The Epoch Times.
At Marin’s entry point alone, she said Trump’s tougher border policies have allowed her to move about 180 officers from processing illegal foreign nationals to enforcement and inspections.
Several CBP officials have described the current condition of the border as the most secure in U.S. history.
