U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials discovered $5 million worth of methamphetamine disguised as watermelons in California last week, the agency said Tuesday.
A 29-year-old man driving a truck encountered CBP agents at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in San Diego on Friday as he attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico, the agency said.
The man said he was bringing a load of watermelons across the border, according to the CBP statement. Agents sent the driver, his vehicle and the load for further investigation after the first checkpoint.
The alleged shipment of watermelons was unloaded from the truck in the second inspection area. Upon further inspection, officers found “1,220 packages wrapped in paper, disguised as watermelons within the shipment,” according to CBP.
“The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine, weighing a total of 4,587 pounds,” CBP said. “The estimated street value of the drugs is over $5 million dollars.”
CBP agents seized the narcotics and the truck, the agency said. The driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.
“I am incredibly proud of our team for their exceptional work over the past few weeks in exposing sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods,” said Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director of the Area Port of Otay Mesa. “As drug cartels continue to evolve their smuggling techniques, we will continue to find new and better ways to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from entering the country.”
Just a week earlier, CBP agents at the same facility seized 629 pounds of the same drug, this time hidden in a shipment of celery, according to a separate news release from the agency. That shipment had an estimated street value of $755,000.
According to CBP, both seizures are the result of Operation Apollo, which is described as a “holistic anti-fentanyl operation” that began in Southern California last October and expanded to Arizona in April.
The operation “focuses on intelligence gathering and partnerships and utilizes local CBP resources, supplemented by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to increase resources, enhance cooperation, and address the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States,” CBP said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
