The Texas Department of Public Safety, working as part of a joint operation with federal authorities during Operation Lone Star, seized more than 153 pounds of narcotics, including more than 19.8 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, during a commercial vehicle inspection in Webb County, according to a DPS news release.
On the morning of Tuesday, September 22, special agents from DPS’s Criminal Investigations Division responded to a request for assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Laredo Port of Entry, the release said. A commercial vehicle inspection uncovered 26 pounds of methamphetamine, 18 pounds of heroin, 15 pounds of eutylone and 94 pounds of fentanyl, according to DPS. The narcotics have an estimated street value of more than $1.4 million, the agency said.
DPS special agents took over the case and arrested the driver, identified as 53-year-old Ernesto Jaime of Wisconsin, and the passenger, identified as 51-year-old Enrique Ramirez Valle of Oklahoma, the release said. Both were charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and transported to the Webb County Jail, according to DPS.
The seizure is the latest in a string of large-scale narcotics interdictions credited to Operation Lone Star, the state’s multi-agency border security initiative that pairs DPS personnel with federal partners at ports of entry and along the border to intercept drug trafficking and other criminal activity.
DPS said the case remains under investigation by its South Texas Region office.