CBP arrests 7 gang members, intercepts 825 lbs. of fentanyl, meth at border

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Two major drug seizures at U.S. southern border over Labor Day weekend

Victor Avila, retired ICE Homeland Security special agent, joins 'America's Newsroom' to implore that cartels get classified as foreign terrorist organizations or 'FTOs.'

Over the course of one week, Customs and Border Protection officers at the Calexico and Andrade ports of entry in San Diego stopped seven different drug trafficking attempts. 

The total worth of the intercepted substances is approximately $3 million. 

Separately, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol captured seven gang members and two sex offenders in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, and apprehended a migrant previously convicted of assaulting a minor.

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Video released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting Director of Field Operations for San Diego Field Office showed methamphetamine seized at the border in San Diego. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

"Our officers found a significant number of narcotics within a short time period," Port Director Roque Caza at Calexico. "This demonstrates the fierce dedication our officers have to uphold CBP’s mission in protecting our nation’s borders and keeping our communities safe from these dangerous drugs." 

The massive haul of narcotics, mostly methamphetamine and fentanyl, weighed a combined 825 pounds.

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From Aug. 20 to 27, CBP agents seized 656 packages of meth and fentanyl. Authorities caught attempted drug traffickers via visual inspections, canine screening and the ports' imaging systems.

Video released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting Director of Field Operations for San Diego Field Office showed fentanyl seized at the border in San Diego. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Fentanyl, a powerful opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin, was responsible for 71,238 of the record 107,000 fatal drug overdoses in the United States last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fentanyl is brought across the southern border primarily by two drug trafficking organizations — the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to authorities. 

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Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol apprehended nearly a dozen individuals over the weekend. 

Three of those arrested were members of the Mara-Salvatrucha (MS-13), while two others were members of the 18th Street gang from El Salvador. Authorities also arrested a Honduran Paisa gang member.

Two Mexican nationals previously convicted of statutory rape and injury to a child were also arrested by authorities in the same weekend.