Another drug seizure at Dulles International Airport

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recorded another cocaine seizure from parcels that a Guatemalan courier brought to Washington Dulles International Airport Thursday night.

 

CBP officers discovered the cocaine concealed inside five large belt-like items. Officers couldn't immediately separate the cocaine from the belts. Total combined weight of the leather and cocaine was 3,662 grams or a little more than eight pounds.

 

The courier arrived from Guatemala about 9 p.m. Thursday. After extensive interviews, authorities released the unidentified man to return home to Guatemala. He has been barred from returning to the U.S. for a minimum of five years.

 

This is the fifth cocaine interception of Guatemalan courier parcels in five weeks.

 

"We know that nefarious narcotics networks remain anxious and desperate to deliver their deadly product into the U.S. market. And so Customs and Border Protection will remain vigilant in our mission to intercept these illicit narcotics at our nation's borders and before they can reach our communities," said Christopher Hess, CBP Port Director for the Port of Washington, D.C. "Narcotics interdiction remains a priority border enforcement mission for Customs and Border Protection."

 

In September, CBP officers intercepted four cocaine shipments that were concealed inside false second liners of plastic jars and in food products.

 

During fiscal year 2011, which spans Oct. 1, 2010 through Sept. 30, 2011, CBP officers at Washington Dulles International Airport intercepted a little more than 50 pounds of cocaine in seven seizures.