Calexico

The Calexico port of entry was closed for about two hours Friday after U.S. Customs officers received a tape-recorded bomb threat, but a search of the area failed to produce an explosive device.

Customs spokesman John Miller said the threat was received at 7:53 a.m.

“It was a tape-recorded voice saying there was a bomb. The male caller was not specific about where the bomb was. We searched the area but found nothing,” said Miller.

Miller said that Customs officials decided to close the four northbound lanes at 8:40 a.m., but the southbound lanes remained open. After a search by the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department bomb unit, two lanes were opened at 10:30 a.m. and all lanes were cleared by noon, Miller said.

As a precautionary measure, an Army bomb disposal unit from Ft. Rosecrans in San Diego was dispatched to the scene, but returned when the searchers determined that the threat was a hoax.

Customs officials refused to say whether the caller made any other comments. An investigation was launched to determine if the call originated in Mexico or the United States.