Category: ROAD

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the World Trade Bridge seized more than two tons of marijuana in a single enforcement action. The seizure occurred at the World Trade Bridge, when a CBP officer referred a 2023 Freightliner tractor trailer manifesting home goods for secondary inspection. Following a thorough examination that included use of a non-intrusive inspection system, CBP officers discovered 177 packages containing a total of 4,466 pounds of alleged marijuana within the trailer. The narcotics had a street value of $9,904,204.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Calexico West port of entry discovered 223 packages of methamphetamine and heroin hidden throughout a pick-up truck. CBP officers encountered a 35-year-old male U.S. citizen driving a 2020 pick-up truck. At the time of encounter, the driver was applying for entry into the United States from Mexico. A CBP officer performing the primary inspection referred the driver for further examination at the secondary inspection area. CBP officers observed anomalies and irregularities during a non-intrusive (X-ray) examination of the vehicle. A CBP canine enforcement team responded to the scene and alerted them to the presence of narcotics. CBP officers discovered and extracted 223 packages from the rear passenger door, spare tire, and gas tank area of the pick-up truck. The narcotics were field tested as methamphetamine with a total weight of 126.06 pounds and heroin with a weight of 7.84 pounds. The estimated street value of the narcotics is $410,553. The driver was detained and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further processing. CBP officers seized the vehicle and narcotics.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Hidalgo International Bridge intercepted $1,504,000 of alleged cocaine, methamphetamine concealed within a vehicle. CBP officers assigned to the Hidalgo International Bridge encountered a black Chevrolet SUV arriving from Mexico. A CBP officer referred the vehicle for further inspection which included utilizing non-intrusive inspection equipment and screening by canine team. Physical inspection of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of 38 packages weighing 94.22 pounds (42.74 kg) of alleged cocaine and 12 packages weighing 27.51 pounds (12.48 kg) of alleged methamphetamine concealed within the vehicle. The driver was arrested.

The border police carried out a thorough search of the means of transport, based on the risk analysis at the Romanian Nădlac II Border Crossing Point, Arad County, which led to the discovery of 50 foreign citizens hidden in the cargo compartments. One Turkish citizen and a Czech citizen, driving registered vans and minibuses, showed up for border formalities on the way out of the country in Turkey and the Czech Republic. The persons were picked up and transported to the headquarters of the sector for investigations where, following the checks, the border police established that they are citizens of Pakistan, India, Syria and Bangladesh. Some of them legally entered the country based on personal documents but some were applicants of asylum.

Forty-two people tried to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border. The migrants were revealed in sections protected by Polish Border Guard posts in Płaska, Narewka, Białowieża and Dubicze Cerkiewne.

A man who charged Black Lives Matter protesters while wearing a glove with four long, serrated blades was convicted of attempted murder charges, the Queens district attorney announced in August. A peaceful gathering on the overpass above the Cross Island Parkway in June 2020 was interrupted when Frank Cavalluzzi, 57, jumped out of a vehicle shouting, “I will kill you,” and chasing protesters while wearing a “glove of blades,” prosecutors alleged. He then got back into his vehicle and drove on a sidewalk, narrowly missing the demonstrators. “A dangerous man is going to jail. It’s a good day for New York and the First Amendment,” District Attorney Melinda Katz said. The trial lasted two weeks before the Flushing man was convicted on nine counts of attempted murder, nine counts of attempted assault, seven counts of menacing, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless driving.

A large school system in Kentucky was forced to close schools after a situation that was dubbed a “transportation disaster” by the superintendent. The situation left some children on buses until just before 10 p.m. on the first day of school. In a video statement posted to social media, Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio apologized to the district’s 96,000 students, their families, bus drivers and school officials. He said that canceling day two and day three of school was the hardest decision of his superintendent career. The school district later extended the school closure into the following week. The district, which includes Louisville, has 65,000 bus riders. In a video statement made by the superintendent he said the district “always experiences delays in transportation during the first days of school” but that what occurred was unacceptable. Families waited for hours, the statement said, for children to return home after dismissal. “We acknowledge that the delays and frustrations felt by families were worse than in years past as bus drivers, families, students and school staff all worked to navigate a brand-new transportation plan,” he said in the statement.

Ambulances were forced to divert to other hospitals when a cyberattack knocked computer systems offline at hospitals in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, according to the hospital spokespeople. Crozer Health, with three hospitals and a medical center in Philadelphia, was still diverting ambulances for stroke and trauma patients to other hospitals because of a “ransomware attack,” Crozer Health spokesperson Lori Bookbinder told reporters. The hack hit Prospect Medical Holdings and affected all of their health care facilities, according to a statement from PMH affiliate Eastern Connecticut Health Network. PMH owns 16 hospitals in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, according to its website.

During a one-week period in July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers intensified inspections on incoming shipments moving through the Cincinnati Port of Entry. On July 10-14, during Special Operation Home Plate, officers focused enforcement efforts on counterfeit merchandise bearing protected brands or trademarked logos of teams within Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the National Football League (NFL). Cincinnati CBP officers seized 100 shipments containing counterfeit merchandise with a total Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $155,919. An additional 34 shipments were abandoned by the importers. Most of the products originated from China and Hong Kong, but officers also seized shipments imported from Mexico, Guatemala and Canada.

Border police officers found 28 Syrian citizens who were trying to enter Turkey illegally, hidden in a truck loaded with cabbage. The incident occurred at the Giurgiu Border Crossing Point in a truck that was being driven by a Turkish citizen. Twenty-six men and two women were found hidden in the semi-trailer of the truck after a thorough search based on potential risk, Turkish authorities said. The group identified themselves as Syrians, although no documentation of any kind was found on them or in their belongings. “Based on the protocol concluded between the border authorities between the two states, the persons found hidden, the Turkish driver and the road assembly were taken over by the Bulgarian Border Police in order to continue the investigations,” according to Border Security Report.