Customs Officials: Cocaine Found Smuggled In Cookies At Newark Liberty International Airport
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - According to officials, a Guatemalan man who arrived in Newark had packed more than just a snack in his luggage.
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, Customs and Border Protection officers checked Mauricio Isidro Rivera Hernandez's luggage on June 5 when he tried to enter the country after landing at Newark Liberty International Airport.
During a routine inspection, officials found he was carrying cookies in three of his checked bags, officials said.
A further inspection revealed there wasn't just chocolate chips in the cookies. Instead, officials said 118 oval-shaped pellets of cocaine, weighing a little more than 3 pounds, were discovered.
The cocaine had a street value of approximately $52,000, according to authorities.
Rivera Hernandez was turned over to Port Authority police and now faces state drug charges, Smith reported.
"CBP officers remain ever vigilant in protecting the United States from the distribution of these dangerous drugs, regardless of the concealment methods employed by these would-be smugglers," said Robert Perez, Director of CBP's New York Field Operations.
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