CUSTOMS SEIZES 1,020 POUNDS OF COCAINE AT BRIDGE

Second Coke Load Nabbed With X-ray at Bridge of the Americas Cargo Lot

EL PASO, Texas, March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Customs Service
inspectors at the Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) made a huge cocaine
seizure late Wednesday night. Customs inspectors confiscated 1,020
pounds of cocaine while performing a special operation in which
inspectors and canine officers examine arriving vehicles in the
queuing area before they reach the primary inspection booth.

The seizure was made during the pre-primary operation. The driver of a
white Ford Explorer that was waiting in the line of traffic abandoned
the vehicle when inspectors performing the operation approached. The
driver fled on foot to Mexico. Customs inspectors searched the vehicle
and found that it contained 188 cocaine-filled bundles. Customs
special agents are investigating the case. Anyone with information is
encouraged to call Customs at 915-633-7200 or 1-800- BE-ALERT.

"Customs officers are consistently running special enforcement
operations designed to keep smugglers off balance. In this case, it
appears the driver thought he had a better chance fleeing than facing
the scrutiny of the pre-primary inspection before him," said Customs
Acting El Paso Port Director Manny Alvarez. "This is a huge amount of
cocaine to be confiscated in one seizure."

The massive cocaine seizure came hours after Customs inspectors at the
BOTA cargo lot made another large cocaine seizure. An X-ray machine
designed to help U.S. Customs Service inspectors determine if
commercial vehicles are carrying illegal narcotics proved its worth
Wednesday morning when it helped pinpoint a 213.5 pound load of
cocaine. Customs Service inspectors found the illegal drugs hidden in
the front tires of a 1984 Kenworth Tractor.

Customs inspectors were searching the tractor when they noticed that
the tires seemed solid. Customs drug sniffing dog "Rex" also alerted
to the front tires while searching the tractor. The vehicle was sent
through the $3.5 million full cargo X-ray machine. Customs inspectors
viewing an X-ray image of the truck spotted packages in the front
tires. The tires were disassembled and inspectors removed 52
cocaine-filled bundles.

In addition to the cocaine seizures, Customs inspectors working in
cargo lots in the West Texas/New Mexico area have made 11 other
marijuana seizures totaling just under 5,200 pounds of the illegal
weed in the first five months of fiscal year 1999. In all of fiscal
year 1998, area Customs inspectors made eight marijuana seizures
totaling 5, 970 pounds in cargo lots in El Paso, Presidio, Columbus
and Santa Teresa.

"West Texas and New Mexico Customs officers working in the cargo
environment have been hard at work trying to detect drug loads hidden
in commercial vehicles. At this time, their efforts lead all southwest
border Customs locations in drug seizures made in cargo," said West
Texas/New Mexico Customs Management Center Director of Operations
Gurdit Dhillon.

Customs special agents arrested the driver of the tractor in
connection with the smuggling attempt. He is 38-year-old Faustino
Garcia-Islas of Chihuahua City, Mexico.