US Customs and Border Protection

Texas now inspecting all commercial vehicles entering from Mexico

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that Texas has set up state-run checkpoints to stop and inspect commercial vehicles coming from Mexico in what he called an effort to curb illegal immigration.

The inspections are on top of those conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

They are aimed at finding smugglers bringing undocumented immigrants and drugs from Mexico, Abbot said at a press conference in Weslaco in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

“I know in advance this is going to dramatically...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/texas-plans-to-inspect-commercial-trucks

Trucker caught with handgun, meth at US-Canada border, CBP says

A CBP officer shows the gun seized from the cab of a truck at the US-Canada border. (Photo: CBP)

An American trucker headed to Canada with a load of produce was caught with a loaded handgun and methamphetamine in his cab in an unusual discovery made during an inspection at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, authorities said on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old driver, whose name wasn’t released, was detained on Friday night after border officers searched his cab during a routine outbound inspection, said Kris Grogan, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.

Officers found an undeclared...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucker-caught-with-handgun-meth-at-us-canada-border-cbp-says

Descartes acquires e-commerce US customs filing provider NetCHB

Global logistics technology provider Descartes has acquired NetCHB to enhance cross-border customs filings for e-commerce companies.

Descartes is paying $40 million in upfront cash plus an additional amount based on NetCHB achieving certain revenue targets in the first two years post-acquisition. That additional amount is payable under an all-cash performance earn-out and maxes out at $60 million.

NetCHB automates customs filing processes in the U.S. Its cloud-based platform is used by more than...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/descartes-acquires-e-commerce-us-customs-filing-provider-netchb

Texas trucker headed to prison for smuggling undocumented migrants

A Texas truck driver has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for illegally transporting 51 undocumented migrants in a tractor-trailer.

Rene Garcia, 28, of San Benito, Texas, pleaded guilty in August to charges related to transporting undocumented migrants stemming from a case in May, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In handing down the sentence last week, a U.S. district judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, took into consideration Garcia had recently been convicted of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/texas-trucker-headed-to-prison-for-smuggling-undocumented-migrants

Check Call: More delays expected but not at the ports

Hot Take

Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

Customs and Border Patrol have been busy little bees. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics on Wednesday released the North American Transborder Freight numbers that show there was $68.6 billion of truck freight and $14.7 billion of rail freight crossing U.S. borders in the month of September. The current numbers are a 8.1% increase for trucks and a 6.6% increase for rail over last year’s September numbers. 

The total value of transborder freight for both...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-more-delays-expected-but-not-at-the-ports

COLUMN | What does the future look like? More private equity deals – Esvagt, Havfram, JP Morgan, Huisman, Nabors, James Fisher and The Metals Company [Offshore Accounts]

This week has seen a number of big deals, and a couple of big stumbles. Money is sloshing through the renewables sector like there is no tomorrow. Private equity is enjoy ..

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/offshore-world/column-what-does-the-future-look-like-more-private-equity-deals-esvagt-havfram-jp-morgan-huisman-nabors-james-fisher-and-the-metals-company-offshore-accounts/

Can restaurant leftovers be carried across the US-Mexico border?

While most people don’t perceive uneaten scraps of steak and soiled napkins as a huge danger to the U.S., border agents work every day to prevent items such as those from entering the country.

Collecting trash and restricted materials from airplanes, ocean vessels, trucks and trains entering the United States is part of the Department of Agriculture’s regulated garbage and quarantine program.

The goal is to prevent potentially harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases into the U.S. at more...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/can-restaurant-leftovers-be-carried-across-the-us-mexico-border

CBP shuts down Texas port of entry, reroutes commercial traffic

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shut down a port of entry in South Texas in response to a large influx of migrants attempting to cross the Mexico border into the United States.

CBP closed the Del Rio port of entry late Friday and began diverting both commercial and passenger traffic 57 miles east to the Eagle Pass port of entry.

The closure was in response to a massive surge of migrants who had arrived at the Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge connecting Del Rio, Texas, with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cbp-shuts-down-texas-port-of-entry

CBP finds meth stashed inside peanut shells

Hundreds of grams of methamphetamine were found stuffed inside peanut shells at an express consignment hub in Memphis, Tennessee, officials said Monday.

On June 29, CBP officers using an X-ray device said they spotted “suspicious anomalies” within a shipment labeled as “regional bread roasted peanuts regional dust sweet made of corn.”

CBP officers reportedly cracked open the peanuts and found a white crystal substance – later determined to be methamphetamine – concealed inside the shells. 

The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cbp-finds-meth-stashed-inside-peanut-shells

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