U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas discovered more than $31 million worth of methamphetamine disguised as shipments of spicy serrano peppers, authorities said. announced on tuesday
The peppers were on a tractor trailer that CBP agents chose to inspect on Sunday.
A physical inspection revealed 1,859 packages of 2,155 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, according to CBP. The agents of the field operation seized the peppers, the drugs and the tractor trailer, and the Security agents have launched a criminal investigation.
“Our CBP officers remain vigilant and intercepted this massive shipment of methamphetamine, preventing it from reaching the streets of America,” Port Director Carlos Rodriguez said in a statement.
The shipment of clandestine serrano peppers is not the largest seizure on record this year, according to CBP.
In February, field operators find 13,000 pounds of suspected meth hidden in a tractor trailer filled with absorbent materials used in pig farming to keep newborn pigs dry. The street value of the methane in that shipment was $117 million, officials said, the largest ever for a single filling at a port. Laredo Director of Field Operations Donald Kussler called the seizure “horrendous.”
“For far too long, drug-trafficking organizations have raked in billions of dollars at the expense of our communities ravaged by addiction, death and despair as a result of these poisonous substances,” said Mark Dawson, Homeland’s special officer in charge. Security Investigations (HSI) Houston, at the time. He also thanked all the provincial institutions involved. “We have prevented record amounts of these narcotics from reaching Houston, where they have destroyed a significant number of lives.”
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