FIRST ON FOX: Officers with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a shipment of 450 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $6 million at a port along the U.S. northern border with Canada last Tuesday, the agency revealed to Fox News Digital.
After CBP conducted a routine inspection on a northbound commercial tractor-trailer driven by a 21-year-old Canadian man, a physical inspection revealed modifications to the floor, leading to a K-9 inspection. Agents soon uncovered 174 vacuum-sealed packages carrying cocaine.
“This significant seizure highlights the exceptional vigilance, advanced training and relentless dedication of our CBP officers and canine teams at the Lewiston Bridge border crossing,” Sharon Swiatek, acting port director for the Area Port of Buffalo, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
BORDER AGENTS UNCOVER $20M COCAINE STASH HIDDEN BENEATH TRUCK FLOORBOARDS IN MASSIVE BUST
The seizure follows other recent cases involving drugs concealed in commercial trucks caught by CBP in recent months, demonstrating the continued challenge federal agencies face in stopping the flow of narcotics across both the U.S. southern and northern borders despite greatly reduced illegal crossings.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office at the outset of 2025, border crossings have plummeted at the southern border — an issue that captured much public attention in the 2024 presidential election. Since October 2024, illegal border crossings have dropped from over 240,000 to just 12,200 this past August, a reduction of over 94%.
The drop also extends to the northern border. There, encounters have plummeted from over 17,000 to under 6,100, a 64% decrease.
TRUMP DHS HITS 16 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH 0 RELEASES AT THE BORDER
Even so, CBP has continued to battle the smuggling of drugs, weapons and human trafficking rings into — and out of — the U.S.
While the majority of CBP’s work focuses on securing the American border, a number of its busts have centered on preventing dangerous shipments from entering neighboring countries as well. According to Swiatek, the CBP acting port director, it’s a mission that carries the same gravity as its southern counterpart.
“While a large focus of our border security mission is on inbound threats, our officers remain equally sharp during outbound operations to dismantle transborder criminal networks, disrupt the flow of dangerous narcotics and protect communities on both sides of the border,” Swiatek said.
In April, for example, CBP announced it had prevented a car carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips and other weapon parts from crossing the border into Mexico.
“CBP prevented these dangerous weapons from wreaking havoc on the good people of Mexico,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Ron Vitiello said at the time.
With respect to the Tuesday cocaine seizure, the shipment has been referred to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo for investigational review, according to CBP.
