US Border Agents Seize $5 Million in Watermelons Filled with Meth

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently encountered what it described as a “shady situation” at the U.S.-Mexico border: fake watermelons laced with meth, hidden among a shipment of real watermelons.

The CBP said in a statement that agents at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry between San Diego and Tijuana seized more than $5 million worth of methamphetamine “disguised and concealed in a shipment of watermelons.”

The incident occurred last Friday when a 29-year-old man arrived at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in a semi-trailer. The driver “was traveling from Mexico into the United States and was transporting a shipment manifesting watermelons,” CBP said.

The man and his cargo were sent to a second inspection point, where the shipment of watermelons was unloaded for further examination.

“During a careful inspection, agents discovered 1,220 packages wrapped in paper, disguised as watermelons within the shipment,” CBP said.

“The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine, weighing a total of 4,587 pounds (2,080 kg). The estimated street value of the drugs is over $5 million dollars,” the agency said.

CBP agents seized the meth and the truck, while the driver “was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation,” CBP said.

In the past, smugglers have attempted to hide drugs in shipments of various produce, including strawberries and onions. Earlier this month, CBP agents in Otay Mesa found nearly 660 pounds of meth hidden in a shipment of celery.

Smugglers have tried even more inventive ways to hide narcotics, such as packing fentanyl pills into tamales and filling tequila bottles with liquid meth.

Rosa E. Hernandez, Otay Mesa Port Director, said she was “incredibly proud of our team for their exceptional work over the past few weeks in exposing sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods.”

“As drug cartels continue to evolve their smuggling techniques, we will continue to find new and better ways to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from entering the country,” she said.

Mexican cartels produce methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs in secret laboratories.

The Navy dismantled one such lab in Sinaloa last month, seizing 3,920 kilograms of material suspected of being methamphetamine, along with 28,600 liters of liquid drugs and 2,250 kilograms of chemical precursors.

Mexico News Daily