Border Officers Arrest Multiple People Smuggling Fentanyl ‘Within Their Bodies’

Fentanyl seized from body carrier. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

People have been caught at various border entry points in El Paso, Texas, over the past week trying to smuggle fentanyl into the United States “within their bodies,” authorities say.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers say that in the three days to June 10 they identified and stopped “significant drug loads on a daily basis,” including fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.

On June 6, CBP officers first encountered a 34-year-old American woman at the Ysleta border crossing who had stashed 0.23 pounds of fentanyl “insider her rectal cavity.”

“Smugglers will utilize any and all methods available to introduce contraband to the United States,” said CBP El Paso Director of Field Operations Hector Mancha in a release.

“CBP uses multiple layers of enforcement to identify and stop these smugglers. Some of those layers include technology, officer expertise, and canine enforcement teams.”

Fentanyl seized from body carrier. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The woman was in a vehicle driven by a 28-year-old American man that was stopped. She was identified by a canine who sniffed out the drugs concealed within her body. This came after a primary inspection of the vehicle revealed a bag filled with blue pills inside of a laundry basket.

Almost a week later, a canine inspection at the pedestrian lanes at the Paso Del Norte border crossing on June 11 found that another 34-year-old American woman had attempted to smuggle 0.14 pounds of fentanyl into the country in a balloon that had “dislodged from her vaginal cavity.”

A couple of days later, on June 13, at the same pedestrian crossing lane, CBP officers intercepted a 47-year-old American woman who voluntarily removed a bundle containing 0.07 pounds of fentanyl from her vaginal cavity after it was detected in a pat down.

“Every drug load that is stopped represents a substantial financial setback for the smuggling organizations who are attempting to introduce these dangerous items into our community,” Mancha said after the first woman was arrested with the drugs hidden within her body.

Fentanyl is a dangerous opioid that is reportedly made in China and smuggled via Mexico cartels into the United States. It is sometimes cut into other drugs and is estimated to be upwards of 100 times more potent than morphine, another opioid.

Fentanyl and cocaine were also found hidden in vehicles over the course of those days by CBP officers.

On June 7, an 18-year-old American man was caught at the Paso Del Norte border crossing with 36.4 pounds of cocaine in multiple bundles hidden within a vehicle. Around one hour later, authorities say a 53-year-old Mexican woman was found with 21.12 pounds of methamphetamine, 12.72 pounds of fentanyl, and 2.33 pounds of heroin in a vehicle.

The next day, at the Ysleta border crossing, CBP caught a 28-year-old American woman with 14.41 pounds of fentanyl in multiple bundles hidden throughout the vehicle she was driving.

They were all arrested and handed over to Homeland Security Investigations and other federal agencies for prosecution.

Fentanyl has been linked to the most overdose-related deaths in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Fatal overdoses in America have skyrocketed to peak at nearly 108,000 in 2021, amid increased usage of fentanyl and methamphetamine.