Nearly $3 Million In Meth Disguised As Onions Seized At California Border
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported on Friday that $2.9 million worth of methamphetamine was found hidden inside packages that blended in with onion shipments.
The 1,336-pound shipment of methamphetamine arrived in Southern Californiaon Feb. 20, and was hidden inside multiple “small globes with a white covering" among actual onions. Authorities said that there were around 1,200 packages that were confiscated.
"While we have certainly seen narcotics in produce before, it's unusual for us to see this level of detail in the concealment," Sidney Aki, director of field operations in San Diego, said in a statement.
"This was not only a clever attempt to try and smuggle in narcotics, one I haven't seen before, but also time consuming to wrap narcotics into these small packages, designed to look like onions," Aki said.
The methamphetamine was uncovered by a CBP canine team that was doing a routine screening of the “tractor and trailer” that smuggled the onions.
A 46-year-old Mexican citizen was the driver and has been turned over to federal agencies for an intensive examination. The tractor, trailer and narcotics have been seized.
The onion disguised packages have proved "the lengths drug trafficking organizations are willing to go to as they try to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.,” according to authorities.
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