EL PASO, TX — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Ysleta international crossing in El Paso recently discovered approximately one-third of a pound of fentanyl hidden inside a 41-year-old U.S. citizen’s body.
According to a press release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the man was crossing the border on foot from Mexico and tried to smuggle the drugs in his anal cavity.
The incident happened on the evening of March 31, just after 7:00 p.m., when the man arrived from Mexico and was chosen for a secondary inspection after a brief interview with a CBP officer. A drug-sniffing dog alerted officers, and they suspected the man was hiding drugs inside his body.
Despite refusing to agree to a medical exam, a Homeland Security Investigations officer got involved and obtained a search warrant. Early on April 1, medical staff at a nearby hospital performed an x-ray and confirmed a foreign object inside him.
CBP officers kept watch over the man while he was under medical care, and by 2 p.m. that day, he passed a package containing several fentanyl pills. The total weight of the drugs was 0.31 pounds, says the U.S. CBP.
“We cannot emphasize strongly enough exactly how dangerous this smuggling method is,” said CBP Ysleta Port Director Arnie Gomez. “If the concealment packaging were to rupture, the results could be lethal.”
The man was arrested and turned over to HSI agents, who are now handling the charges related to the failed smuggling attempt.
X-ray showing Fentanyl tablets inside body
(Credit: U.S. CBP)
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