Meth worth nearly $6 million found in fake watermelon, celery shipments in California
Officers recently found and seized almost $6 million worth of methamphetamine in less than two weeks at the United States-Mexico border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced. Officials said the drug hauls were discovered in two separate incidents, hidden inside a shipment of celery and wrapped in packaging designed to resemble watermelons.
The first seizure happened on the evening of August 9, when border agents at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility, an inspection port just over the southern border in San Diego, found 629 pounds of methamphetamine in a grocery shipping crate filled with celery. Border Patrol said that agents discovered the narcotics while performing an inspection on a commercial tractor-trailer, driven by a 34-year-old man with a legitimate border crossing card who entered the U.S. from Mexico with cargo on board his truck. The driver was transporting a shipment that had been declared as celery, according to the federal authorities.
Agents used a K-9 unit to do the inspection, which revealed 508 packages that testing later confirmed contained methamphetamine. Border Patrol said the haul had an estimated street value of $755,000.
"Our officers' vigilance and expertise once again thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics disguised as everyday produce," said Rosa Hernandez, the port director for Otay Mesa, in a statement. As San Diego County contends with a well-documented crisis over methamphetamine abuse that has run rampant for decades and is linked to smuggling, Hernandez noted in that statement the agency's "commitment to protecting our communities from the perils of drug trafficking."
Less than two weeks after the celery seizure, agents at the same inspection facility in Otay Mesa discovered an even larger haul of methamphetamine. This time, the produce meant to conceal the drugs was fake.
Another commercial tractor-trailer, driven by a 29-year-old man said to be transporting watermelons from Mexico into the U.S., was found to contain 1,220 packages of methampetamine, according to the Border Patrol. The drugs were wrapped inside packaging that might be mistaken for watermelon from a distance. But closer inspection revealed the packages were actually filled with 4,587 pounds of meth, a haul with a street value exceeding $5 million, according to the agency.
Both of these seizures came as part of Operation Apollo, an ongoing project to combat trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic drug that the U.S. government has declared as a leading source of the current opioid overdose epidemic in this country. It's focused in California and Arizona.
The discoveries in California bookended a third, similar incident in Georgia, where agents found more than 2,300 pounds of meth hidden inside a truck carrying celery at a farmer's market outside of Atlanta. Earlier this year, six tons of meth were discovered inside a shipment of squash in California, after 3,000 pounds of the narcotic and cocaine were found last year in bins of jalapeño paste that were being transported over the border. Traffickers have also stashed drugs inside shipments of green beans, sugar, flour and candy.