On Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported finding methamphetamine hidden inside onion shipments worth $2.9 million.
Authorities confiscated approximately 1,200 packages of methamphetamine from the shipment, which arrived in Southern California on Feb. 20, IBTimes disclosed.
It was disguised as small globes with white coverings among actual onions. Around 1,336 pounds of methamphetamine were seized.
“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.
Authorities have seized approximately 1,336 pounds of methamphetamine disguised as onions in Southern California. https://t.co/TL3fgawCbB
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 27, 2022
“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 explained.
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The methamphetamine was found during a routine CBP screening of the “tractor and trailer” that smuggled the onions.
A Mexican citizen 46 years old was driving and has been handed over to federal authorities for scrutiny. Among the seized items are a trailer, tractor, and narcotics.
As a result of the onion-covered packages, authorities have learned “the lengths drug trafficking organizations are willing to go to as they try to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.,” authorities said.