United States border agents recently seized more than 41 kilograms of cocaine and $78,000 in cash at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, blocking the drugs from crossing into the U.S. and the money from reaching transnational criminal organizations in Mexico. “By interdicting the flow of narcotics north and intercepting undeclared currency going south, our U.S. Customs and Border Protection [CBP] officers have disrupted both the supply chain and profits of the Mexican Drug Cartels,” Ysleta Port Director Arnoldo Gomez said in a news release.
CBP officers assigned to the Mobile Enforcement Team were conducting southbound operations at the Ysleta Port of Entry on January 21, 2026, when a white 2022 Nissan Pathfinder driven by a male U.S. citizen was pulled over for inspection. A CBP dog trained to detect currency and firearms signaled the presence of illicit items in the vehicle. Officers inspected the Nissan more closely and found $38,371 in improperly declared currency. Officers seized the money and contacted Homeland Security Investigations.
CBP officers assigned to the Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team and Mobile Enforcement Team were working along the southbound lanes on January 22 when they decided to inspect a 2012 Dodge Ram. The driver, a male U.S. citizen, had $40,320 in undeclared currency inside his jacket. CBP officers seized the money.
Also on January 22, CBP officers at the port of entry stopped a male U.S. citizen driving a blue 2012 Chevrolet Sonic. He was applying for admission into the U.S. in the primary lanes at the port. Officers decided to inspect his vehicle after discovering anomalies in the trunk. A dog trained to detect concealed humans and narcotics alerted officers to the presence of drugs. The officers inspected the vehicle more closely and uncovered 13 bundles of cocaine weighing 15.92 kilograms.
CBP officers on January 24 stopped a male Mexican citizen driving a white 2017 Honda Civic in the northbound lanes when he applied for admission to the U.S. The vehicle triggered a “system generated alert” for narcotics, and a secondary inspection was ordered. A nonintrusive scan revealed anomalies in the vehicle, and a dog signaled the presence of illicit drugs. A closer inspection uncovered 22 bundles of cocaine that weighed 25.78 kilograms.
“These significant narcotics and currency seizures indicate attempts by drug trafficking organizations to smuggle drugs north from the U.S.-Mexico border into U.S. communities and then repatriate the cash profits back south to fund criminal organizations in Mexico,” said Gomez, the port director. The U.S. State Department in 2025 designated 13 Mexican drug cartels and violent Latin American gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, expanding the government’s ability to purge them from the U.S.
Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2025, saying: “Transnational criminal organizations based in Mexico continue to threaten U.S. sovereignty and territorial integrity through the production and trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs. … The narcotics smuggled into the United States by transnational criminal organizations are directly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year, and USNORTHCOM will continue to work with partners in reducing the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.”