CBP seize freon, 12K allegedly fake registration stickers

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Brownsville Port of Entry officers, Office of Field Operations, seized 12,000 counterfeit Texas vehicle registration stickers.

On Saturday, CBP officers referred a 2006 Jeep Cherokee at the Veterans International Bridge for a secondary inspection.

CBP says that during the examination, boxes with 12,000 allegedly counterfeit Texas vehicle registration stickers and 12 canisters of freon within the vehicle were discovered.

(One of several boxes containing a total of 12,000 allegedly counterfeit Texas vehicle registration stickers, courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

The vehicle, freon, and registration stickers were seized and turned over to the Brownsville Police Department by CBP officers.

Brownsville PD arrested the driver and began a criminal investigation, according to the release.

"Since January 1, 2022, Environmental Protection Agency regulations prohibit any person from importing bulk regulated hydrofluorocarbons except by expending, at the time of import, a consumption or application-specific allowance issued by the EPA. No person may sell or distribute, or offer for sale or distribution, any regulated HFC that was imported illegally,” a release from CBP stated.

Officials say that HFCs are potent greenhouse gases commonly used as refrigerants that have a global warming potential that can be hundreds to thousands of times stronger than carbon dioxide.

“Those who bring in canisters of such regulated HFCs without adhering to EPA regulations face a fine for failure to declare the item, and the vehicle used in the furtherance of the violation may be subject to seizure,” CBPs statement continued.