+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Border agents keep finding drugs hidden in food shipments - here are some of smugglers' most bizarre methods

Aug 12, 2016, 23:50 IST

Advertisement
Packages containing 4,064 pounds of marijuana seized by CBP officers at Pharr International Bridge in Texas in August 2016.US Customs and Border Protection

Every year, billions of dollars in illegal narcotics circle the globe, driven by the demand of millions of users.

At every step, authorities try to intercept the drugs and apprehend their purveyors. In response, traffickers have developed a variety of inventive ways to obscure their cargos.

On the US-Mexico border, one of the favorite methods seems to be hiding drugs in food shipments.

Earlier this month, border agents uncovered more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana hidden among limes. In two incidents in early July, border agents found well over 200 pounds of meth hidden in shipments of jalapeños and cucumbers. Farther south, in mid-July Mexican marines intercepted a multiton shipment of cocaine hidden in containers of salsa and bound for Sinaloa state, from where it would almost certainly be smuggled to the US.

Advertisement

From fake carrots and real doughnuts to air cannons and catapults, here's a non-exhaustive list of clever ways traffickers have smuggled drugs.

Next Article