Border officers arrest man trying to smuggle nearly $3 million in meth disguised as onions

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday that officers discovered almost 1,200 small packages of meth hidden within a shipment of onions at a San Diego border crossing on Sunday.

At approximately 1 p.m. on Sunday, CBP officers at the Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry encountered a 46-year-old driver and conducted an initial exam of the shipment before ordering a more extensive inspection.

A dog team then screened the truck and the dog indicated that it was detecting drugs. Officers searched the shipment and discovered 1,197 packages of meth mixed with the onions in sacks.

The packages of meth were shaped into small globes with a white covering that were designed to blend into the onions they were hidden with. CBP officers extracted approximately 1,336 pounds of meth from the packages, which a news release said has an estimated street value of about $2.9 million.

Sidney Aki, a Customs and Border Patrol Director of Field Operations in San Diego, said this was a first.

“These efforts show how effective our officers are, and as a response, the lengths drug trafficking organizations are willing to go to as they try to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.," Aki said. "While we have certainly seen narcotics in produce before, it’s unusual for us to see this level of detail in the concealment."

The driver was arrested for the alleged narcotic smuggling attempt. Customs and Border Patrol then turned the driver, who was a Mexican citizen, over to ICE's Homeland Security Investigations arm. Officers seized the trailer, truck and meth.

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Man arrested for trying to smuggle meth disguised as onions at border