State, federal agencies seize 69 pounds of cocaine in Starr County

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Border Patrol seized approximately 69 pounds of cocaine in Starr County over the weekend.

At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, the Texas Rangers Special Operations Group and Border Patrol Agents saw four people crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico near US-83 in Rio Grande City, wearing camouflage and carrying backpacks.

^{(Source: Texas Department of Public Safety)}

According to a news release from Texas DPS, when the Special Operations Group and the agents attempted to intercept the group, all four people allegedly threw their backpacks, fled toward the river, and swam back to Mexico.

During a search of the area, agents recovered the two backpacks that contained 30 bundles of cocaine wrapped in brown tape.

The bundles weighed approximately 69 pounds with a street value of $2,208,000.

This is an ongoing investigation.