10/26/2009

News / CBP K-9 Discovers Opium Shipment in International Mail

Chicago — U.S. Customs and Border Protection K-9 officer working with his partner Rambo, seized more than four kilograms or nine pounds of opium saturated twigs and leaves at the Chicago Foreign Mail Facility on Thursday, October 22.


While screening arriving international mail, K-9 Rambo alerted to the shipment of opium that had been soaked and dried onto wooden twigs and packed in dried leaves. The parcel, shipped from Laos and destined to Minneapolis, was manifested with the description “Hmong Traditional Tea.”

The CBP K-9 officer opened the parcel to find 43 plastic bags containing wood twigs and dried leaves. The twigs appeared to be saturated with an unknown substance that emitted a distinctive odor. The substance from 30 of the bags field tested positive for the presence of opiates and the other 13 bags tested negative. The 30 bags of opium saturated twigs and leaves had a combined weight of 4.3 kilograms or 9.5 pounds.


This is the fourth opium seizure in the last 15 days by CBP officers at the Foreign Mail Facility with a combined weight total of more than 11 kilograms or 24 pounds. The shipments have all originated from Laos and were destined to various residences in Minnesota. The investigation is ongoing.


“The efforts put forth by CBP K-9 officers and their partners continue to produce impressive results,” said Brian Humphrey, U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting director of Field Operations in Chicago. “This is another example of how the nation’s largest and most diverse law enforcement canine program is a key contributor to the successes of CBP. These K-9 officers work daily with their partners to discover prohibited items and prevent contraband from entering the United States.”


CBP officers and agriculture specialists are stationed at the Foreign Mail Facilities located throughout the country. CBP is constantly examining arriving international mail and on the lookout for any type of contraband or prohibited items being shipped to the United States.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/10232009_4.xml

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