3,395 Pounds of Meth in a Load Listed as Salt: CBP Seizes $30 Million Haul at Laredo’s World Trade Bridge, Across From Nuevo Laredo — and Says the Driver Was Released
Officers at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, found 76 bags holding 3,395.91 pounds of suspected methamphetamine inside a tractor-trailer whose cargo was listed as salt, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Oct. 15, 2026. CBP valued the drugs at $30,355,444. The agency said it seized the narcotics but released the driver, the tractor and the trailer. Homeland Security Investigations is investigating.
A scan, a dog and a load of ‘salt’
According to CBP’s release, the seizure happened Sunday, Oct. 12, when an officer referred a 2020 International LT625 tractor pulling a trailer manifested as salt for an enforcement inspection. A secondary inspection and a nonintrusive scan turned up the 76 bags mixed into the cargo. At a news conference at the bridge on Oct. 15, Paul Del Rincón, assistant director of field operations in Laredo, told KGNS that the referral, the scan, a canine alert and officer experience led to the find. “This is a lot of methamphetamine that did not make it to the streets,” he said.
Jennifer De La O, director of CBP’s Laredo Field Office, said the meth was “destined for American communities,” KGNS reported. Laredo Port Director Alberto Flores said in the release that “the steadfast dedication of our workforce remains the cornerstone of our border security strategy.”
What CBP has not said
Neither CBP’s release nor the TV reports say who owned the load, where it was headed, or why the driver was released. Nobody has been charged in public records found for this report. CBP did not tie the shipment to any cartel.
A third of the nation’s meth seizures
KGNS reported that, in fiscal year 2026, seizures in the Laredo area included more than 47,000 pounds of meth, more than 10,000 pounds of cocaine, more than 100 pounds of heroin and about 1,000 firearms. Officials told the station the Laredo Field Office takes in more than a third of all methamphetamine seized nationwide. For crossing conditions and recent cases, see our Nuevo Laredo–Laredo guide.
CBP’s video of the Oct. 15 news conference:
Sources
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection: “CBP officers seize over $30 million in meth at Laredo Port of Entry” (Oct. 15, 2026)
- KGNS (Juan Puente): “Laredo CBP officers seize $30 million in methamphetamine” (Oct. 15, 2026)
- KGNS (Emma Galle): “Laredo agents show $30 million meth bust alongside guns, cocaine and heroin seizures” (Oct. 15, 2026)
- KENS 5 (Luke Whitney): “$30 million of meth seized by CBP at Texas-Mexico border, officials say” (Oct. 15, 2026)
- Photos: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (public domain) and KGNS, via KGNS.
Reported Oct. 15, 2026, from CBP’s release and KGNS and KENS 5 coverage. The drugs are described as suspected or alleged methamphetamine pending lab confirmation, and no one has been publicly charged in this seizure.