Man Tries to Smuggle $400,000 Worth of Cocaine in 24 Shampoo Bottles

A man was caught by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) last week in an attempt to smuggle 35 pounds of liquid cocaine through Houston George Bush International Airport.

In a press release, the CBP said officers found 24 full-size bottles of shampoo in the man’s checked luggage filled with the drugs.

Upon questioning the man when he retrieved his suitcase from the carousel, CBP also had a dog sniff the suitcases, who alerted officers to “the presence of narcotics in the shampoo bottles."

Through testing, the officers determined the shampoo bottles were filled with liquid cocaine at an approximate value of $400,000.

The man was sent back to Colombia, where he was from, and the drugs were turned over to the Houston Police Department for further investigation.

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“Our officers are the first line of defense at our ports of entry, so they are trained in the various smuggling methods people use to bring illicit goods into the U.S.,” CBP Port Director Shawn Polley said in a statement. “We take every opportunity to intercept those illicit goods before they enter our communities, in this case it was 35 pounds of liquid cocaine.”

The man wasn’t charged or arrested before being sent back to Colombia, as that is not in border patrol purview. Houston Police have not commented further on the case.