‘A salad unfit for this year’s Thanksgiving table’: CBP incercepts US $10M of meth in lettuce shipment

U.S. officials at the Texas-Mexico border intercepted a shipment of lettuce containing 500 packages of methamphetamine last week. 

The more than 1,150 pounds of confiscated drugs have an estimated street value of more than US $10 million, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

In a news release, the CBP said officers at the Pharr International Bridge in South Texas, across from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, encountered a commercial vehicle entering the United States from Mexico on Friday.

Upon being selected for a secondary inspection via non-intrusive imaging equipment, irregularities were observed. When agents conducted a physical inspection, they discovered the hidden packages of meth concealed within the lettuce.

“Within a shipment of salad greens, our frontline officers discovered contraband that does not belong on any holiday table,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez. “As this seizure aptly illustrates, our officers’ use of tools and technology was instrumental in this massive takedown of hard narcotics.”

The CBP seized the narcotics and the vehicle before turning the case over to Homeland Security Investigations. No other details with regard to the truck or the driver were provided.

The Produce News — a publishing company that has covered the fresh produce industry worldwide since 1897 — had some fun with the incident, headlining its article thusly:

“Lettuce point out this meth smuggler has the right to Romaine silent.”

Authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border frequently discover illegal drugs concealed within crates of fruits and vegetables.

On Aug. 24, 2024, CBP officers at the Port of Otay near San Diego confiscated two tonnes of crystal meth hidden in packages designed to look like watermelons. The street value of these drugs was estimated at US $5 million.

Two weeks earlier at the same facility, officers intercepted 629 pounds of meth concealed within a shipment of celery after directing the driver toward a secondary inspection. The estimated value of these drugs was US $755,000.

More recently, a tractor-trailer appearing to carry green squash was detained during a traffic stop in Houston, where Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials discovered over 900 pounds of meth hidden stuffed into the walls of the produce boxes.

With reports from The Guardian, Fox News and The Austin American-Statesman

The post ‘A salad unfit for this year’s Thanksgiving table’: CBP incercepts US $10M of meth in lettuce shipment appeared first on Mexico News Daily



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