By Steve Neavling

CBP officers found $4.3 million worth of methamphetamine in a shipment of cucumber pickles being hauled into Texas from Mexico. 

Officers assigned to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility seized 114 packages of meth weighing 217 pounds from a tractor-trailer last week. 

The discovered the package after conducting a non-intrusive imagine (NII) system inspection. 

“This substantial quantity of hard narcotics will not make its final destination in the United States,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas. “This interdiction reinforces our officers’ role in advancing CBP’s border security mission by preventing dangerous drugs from entering and negatively impacting our communities.”

The case was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. 

By Steve Neavling

A North Carolina man who fired a shotgun at two ATF agents who were conducting surveillance was convicted of assaulting federal officers and multiple firearm charges. 

A jury found Gary Lynn Gatlin, 50, guilty on Wednesday, and he now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. 

ATF agents were surveilling Gatlin on suspicion of firearm trafficking on April 15, 2020, when he approached them on Water Tower Road in Orrum, N.C., and fired four shots at their vehicle. The agents, who were not injured, had identified themselves as law enforcement. 

Police recovered empty shotgun shell cartridges and a Mossberg Maverick Model 88 shotgun and other firearms. 

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 7.