CUSTOMS, INS OFFICIALS SEIZE ABOUT $2.5 MILLION WORTH ILLEGAL DRUGS

EL PASO, Texas- About $2.5 million worth of marijuana was seized Saturday
in two separate busts, one involving an 18-wheeler and the other a bus, the
U.S. Customs Service said.

In the first seizure, an estimated 2,000 pounds of marijuana, worth about
$2 million, was discovered inside wall of an 18-wheeler's empty trailer,
Customs spokesman Roger Maier said.

Maier said Customs inspectors at El Paso's Bridge of the Americas sent the
truck through a drug-detection system after officers noticed the driver
seemed nervous. Once a drug-sniffing dog verified the presence of drugs,
agents began questioning the driver. No arrests have been made, Maier said.

Later Saturday, about 500 pounds of marijuana, worth about $500,000 was
discovered in several hidden compartments in a bus carrying about 25
people, Maier said.

He said Customs officials worked with the Immigration and Naturalization
Service to make the seizure at Ysleta Bridge after drug-sniffing dogs
alerted them to the drugs. Maier said agents were questioning the driver,
but no arrests had been made.

"It used to be pretty rare to see a lot of dope in a bus," Maier said, but
officials have seen six such cases in the past six months in El Paso.

Maier said Customs officials have surpassed the record number of drugs
seized at the same time last year. He attributed the increase to the
heightened level of security since Sept. 11.

"Everything that's coming north from Mexico is getting a much more thorough
inspection," he said.