BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday nacotics seizures within its Buffalo Field Office increased 968% in 2020.
The announcement was made during a press conference detailing it's annual report for the fiscal year 2020, which covers from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
CBP says enforcement activity reached an unprecedented level in 2020 in the Buffalo Field Office which covers all of New York State with the exception of New York City, a total of 16 ports.
42,015 pounds of narcotics were seized, an increase of 968% from the prior fiscal year. CBP says of that over 42,000 pounds of drugs that were seized, 41,687 pounds were marijuana. According to CBP, that is an increase of over 1,100% from the previous fiscal year.
One of the seizures was a northern border record in which officers at the Peace Bridge seized 9,472 pounds of marijuana hidden inside a commercial truck.
Below are some specific stats provided by U.S. CBP and the increase from the prior fiscal year:
- 42,015 pounds of all drugs seized - an increase of 968%.
- 41,687 pounds of marijuana seized - an increase of over 1,100%.
- $543,015 in unreported currency seized - an increase of 124%.
- 142 firearms seized - an increase of 26%.
- 268 pounds of illegal or counterfeit prescription drugs seized.
- 18 pounds of steroids seized.
- Over 13 pounds of ecstasy seized.
- Over half a pound of fentanyl seized.
On March 21 non-essential travel restrictions were put in place at land borders in the United States. CBP says while an overall drop in travel immediately took place, commercial travel remained the same.
You can view the full press conference below.
