Border Patrol: Woman crossing border attempts to smuggle meth, fentanyl in laundry basket

EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Texas found more than just dirty clothes when they investigated a basket of laundry making its way across the border.

The officers were working at the Paso Del Norte border crossing in El Paso on Aug. 13 when they encountered a 26-year-old female U.S. citizen. They said she was crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S in a vehicle.

The officers stopped the woman and conducted a secondary inspection of the vehicle, which included screening by a K-9 officer and an X-ray inspection. This search led the officers to the discovery of multiple bundles inside a basket of laundry containing 4.27 pounds of methamphetamine and .71 pounds of fentanyl.

In a release, CBP El Paso Port Director Ray Provencio said people attempting to smuggle drugs in baskets of laundry was “out of the ordinary.”

“A seizure like this serves as a reminder that smugglers will use any and all means available in their attempts to introduce contraband into the United States,” he said.

CBP seized the drugs and the vehicle and turned the driver over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for charges connected to the failed smuggling attempt.