U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized approximately 450 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $6 million from beneath the floor of an empty semi-trailer heading toward Canada on Sept. 22 at the Lewiston Bridge crossing in New York.

The discovery produced 174 vacuum-sealed packages concealed inside the trailer's modified floor structure. CBP announced the seizure on Sept. 29.

The encounter began in an outbound lane at the Port of Buffalo crossing. A 21-year-old Canadian man drove the commercial truck and trailer toward the border. Officers conducted an initial physical inspection and noticed modifications to the floor. A CBP canine then searched the vacant equipment and alerted to narcotics.

Authorities escorted the vehicle to secondary inspection for a closer examination. Officers used nonintrusive technology to examine the equipment further, and the screening revealed anomalies within the floor. A follow-up search exposed the concealed packages.

174 packages beneath the trailer floor

After removing the vacuum-sealed bundles, investigators tested the suspected substance. Field testing returned a positive result for cocaine. CBP placed the combined weight at approximately 450 pounds and valued the narcotics at roughly $6 million on the street.

CBP referred the matter to Homeland Security Investigations Buffalo for review. The announcement did not identify the driver by name. Officials provided no information about the equipment's ownership or the shipment's origin.

Sharon Swiatek, acting port director for the Area Port of Buffalo, credited the personnel involved in the discovery.

"This significant seizure highlights the exceptional vigilance, advanced training and relentless dedication of our CBP officers and canine teams," Swiatek said. She referenced personnel working at the Lewiston Bridge border crossing and highlighted the agency's outbound enforcement mission.

Outbound inspections under scrutiny

"While a large focus of our border security mission is on inbound threats," Swiatek said, personnel "remain equally sharp during outbound operations." Those efforts target transborder criminal networks and disrupt narcotics movement, according to her statement. Swiatek also noted the goal of protecting communities on both sides of the border.

CBP screens international travelers and cargo moving through U.S. ports of entry, covering both inbound and outbound traffic. Personnel search for narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture and invasive pests.

The Lewiston discovery was not the first recent case involving contraband concealed beneath commercial equipment. In August, CBP officers in California found more than $20 million in cocaine — 1,002 pounds — beneath a trailer's floorboards during an inspection at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Authorities uncovered that shipment after screening revealed anomalies within the structure.

Why it matters

An empty trailer gave officers no visible cargo to inspect, yet the equipment itself concealed 450 pounds of cocaine. The seizure shows why commercial vehicle inspections must look beyond what appears on the trailer floor.

With two major floor-concealment seizures at border crossings within two months, carriers and forwarders moving empty equipment northbound should expect continued scrutiny of trailer structures during outbound screening at crossings such as Lewiston Bridge and Otay Mesa.