El Paso, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the El Paso port of entry found 1.15 pounds of methamphetamine strapped to the midsection of a border crosser New Year’s Day. It was the first drug seizure made at the El Paso port in 2014.
“History has shown that smugglers don’t take holidays off and neither do we,” said CBP El Paso Port Director Hector Mancha. “CBP officers remain vigilant 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to stop all forms of illegal activity at border ports.”
The seizure was made shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Bridge of the Americas international crossing in El Paso. A female entered the facility as a pedestrian and met a CBP officer at the primary inspection station. During the interview and inspection a CBP officer noticed an unusual bulge in the lower back area of the traveler. CBP officers located two bundles of methamphetamine strapped to the back of the female. The drugs weighed 1.15 pounds.
CBP officers arrested the pedestrian traveler, 33-year-old Melissa Kay Villar of Wichita, Kansas. She was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agents to face charges in connection with the failed drug smuggling attempt.
