$27 million in pot was hiding amongst the papayas coming from Mexico, feds say
It didn’t take border patrol agents long to determine that a truck was loaded with a lot more than papayas.
Like 12,000 pounds of marijuana valued at $27 million, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Border patrol agents stopped a 50-year-old Mexican citizen hauling a shipment of fresh papayas at the Otay Mesa port of entry at about 5:45 p.m. Monday, a news release from the agency said.
The agents had the driver pull the truck through the port’s X-ray imaging system and discovered “anomalies within the shipment … and referred the truck and trailer for a more intensive examination,” according to the release.
The officers used a narcotic detector dog to inspect the truck further and found 873 wrapped packages of marijuana commingled with the papayas.
Officers seized the truck, trailer and marijuana and turned the driver over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. He was taken to the Metropolitan Correction Center in San Diego.
“Their enforcement efforts and experience are put to the test regularly, and the results are phenomenal as their focus is always to protect this country,” Anne Maricich, acting director of field operations for Border Patrol, said in the release.
