Border officials announced on August 20th that they had seized over a thousand packages of methamphetamine disguised as watermelons at the Otay Mesa port of entry in Southern California, with an estimated value of over 5 million dollars.
According to reports from a local news agency, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated that on August 16th, border officers discovered 1,220 packages of methamphetamine in a truck attempting to enter the United States. These packages were wrapped in paper that resembled the outer appearance of watermelons with green and black patterns.
CBP indicated that these fake watermelon packages contained methamphetamine that tested positive, with a total weight of 4,587 pounds. CBP officials seized the truck and all the drugs found inside, and handed over the 29-year-old truck driver to the Department of Homeland Security for further investigation.
Rosa Hernandez, the port director of the Otay Mesa area, mentioned that as smugglers’ tactics become increasingly sophisticated, they will explore new and more effective methods to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from flowing into the United States.
Earlier on August 9th, border officers at the Otay Mesa port of entry also discovered a batch of methamphetamine hidden in agricultural products from a passing truck.
At that time, a commercial trailer driver tried to cross from Mexico into the U.S. but was directed to the secondary inspection area. After a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the celery on the truck, CBP officers found 508 hidden packages within the celery stack, containing 629.72 pounds of methamphetamine valued at an estimated 755,000 dollars.
The drugs along with the truck were immediately confiscated, and the 34-year-old driver was also handed over to the Department of Homeland Security for investigation.
CBP officials stated that both of these interceptions were part of “Operation Apollo,” a multi-agency enforcement operation targeting the smuggling of fentanyl into the U.S.