The US Customs and Border Patrol shared on Tuesday that it discovered $5 million worth of methamphetamine hidden in watermelons last week.
The discovery was made at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in San Diego on Friday when a 29-year-old man driving a commercial tractor-trailer tried to enter the country with the shipment of hollow fruit, the agency shared in a press release.
The CBP shared that the man, who has since been arrested, told agents he encountered that he was bringing fruit across the border, but he instead was stopped for further inspection.
The watermelon was unloaded at a secondary inspection area, and officers found “1,220 packages wrapped in paper, disguised as watermelons within the shipment,” the agency shared.
“The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine, with a total weight of 4,587 pounds,” CBP said. “The estimated street value of the drugs exceeds $5 million.”
The narcotics have since been seized along with the tractor-trailer, and the man was handed over to Homeland Security Investigations, the CBP shared.
“I am incredibly proud of our team for their exceptional work over the past few weeks in uncovering sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods,” Rosa E. Hernandez, port director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa, shared in the statement. “As drug cartels continue to evolve their smuggling techniques, we will continue finding new and better ways to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from entering the country.”
The seizure has been credited as being part of the agency’s new Operation Apollo, which was put in place to help stop the influx of fentanyl entering the country.
The operation “focuses on intelligence collection and partnerships, and utilizes local CBP field assets augmented by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to boost resources, increase collaboration, and target the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States,” the CBP said.