$5M worth of meth disguised as watermelon shipment seized at border in Calif.: ‘Seedy situation’

This smuggling scheme died on the vine.

US Customs Border and Protection officers seized more than $5 million worth of meth disguised as a shipment of watermelons in what the federal agency has dubbed a “seedy situation.”

CBP officers made the bust on Friday at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in San Diego when they stopped a 29-year-old man hauling a commercial tractor-trailer of the fruits from Mexico to the US.

When authorities took the truck aside for a secondary inspection, they uncovered 1,220 packages of what was later determined to be meth wrapped up and disguised in watermelon-colored paper, CBP said.

In total, the packages weighed 4,587 pounds with an estimated street value of over $5 million.

CBP officers seized the drugs and tractor-trailer and the driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation, CBP said.

“I am incredibly proud of our team for their exceptional work over the past few weeks in uncovering sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods,” stated Rosa E. Hernandez, port director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa. 

“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,” she added.

Officials said the arrest was made as part of Operation Apollo, a massive CBP counter-fentanyl smuggling effort that began in Southern California in October and has since expanded to Arizona.