INDIANAPOLIS — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Indianapolis are seeing a huge increase in seizures of drugs, counterfeit items and agriculture.
Indianapolis officers saw an increase of 117% in total seizures over the same six months last year. Looking at just drugs, officers seized 738 shipments containing things like marijuana, Ketamine and prescription drugs.
Officers also intercepted 714 parcels of counterfeit items. If sold at the retail price, the items would have been more than $41.6 million. That is a 216% increase from the $13.1 million seized during the same six months last year.
Customs in Indianapolis also issued 497 Emergency Action Notifications for issues of non-compliance with animal or plant shipments. That's a 148% increase from last year.
“Our officers are highly skilled at identifying packages that represent a higher level of risk through visual examination, based on their knowledge and awareness of ever-changing trends employed by the individuals and organizations seeking to illegally import contraband,” said Diann Rodriguez, Area Port Director-Cleveland.
Customs officers in Cincinnati and Louisville saw similar spikes.