By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
It was a busy week for officers at the Customs and Border Protection facility in Louisville as they seized more than $7.6 million in shipments of narcotics, counterfeits, prohibited items and illegal documents, Oct. 1-8.
The CBP says officers inspected thousands of packages looking for prohibited items, such as threats to national security, illegal narcotics, synthetic drugs, protected wildlife, and intellectual property rights violations. What they found included a long list of items that are dangerous to the community and fraudulent items that are either dangerous to your health or swindle U.S. consumers.
Confiscated by U.S. Customs at Louisville
During Oct. 1-8 they uncovered:
• More than 36 pounds of cocaine.
• Almost seven pounds of Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a schedule I controlled substance known for its psychoactive effects.
• More than 5 pounds of Fentanyl.
• A half pound of Hydrocodone.
• Over 28 pounds of Methamphetamine and Crystal Meth.
• Nearly 45 pounds of Marijuana.
• Other shipments of ecstasy and other pain relievers.
The total street value of all the drugs was more than $3.4 million.
The CBP says their officers didn’t just find narcotics, they also seized more than $4.2 million of counterfeit items, including bedsheets, professional sports jerseys, handbags, belts, jewelry, and clothing. 2,654 items were seized protecting U.S. consumers from being conned.
But that’s not all. Officers seized pill presses, drug pipes, cigarettes, fake IDs, fake passports, Botox, and other FDA prohibited items, in addition to 280 agriculture seizures. All these items were worth more than $20,900.
“These seizures represent the wide variety of illegal shipments our officers see on a nightly basis. Each night the dedicated staff of CBP officers and CBP agriculture specialists assigned to Louisville screen thousands of packages entering the country,” said Thomas Mahn, Port Director-Louisville. “Their success is evident by the continued interception of narcotics, counterfeit goods, and agricultural violations intercepted each night. While the world sleeps, they are fast at work securing the country.”
With limited exceptions, all inbound international mail is subject to inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP inspects these mailings to ensure compliance with federal laws and related federal regulations and policies.
