U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers working a port of entry along the California-Mexico border discovered hundreds of pounds of cannabis hidden in a shipment of jalapeño peppers over the weekend.
At around 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 31, a 28-year-old male Mexican citizen driving a tractor-trailer arrived at the Otay Mesa port of entry with a cargo that was manifested as mixed produce.
A CPB officer flagged the conveyance for a secondary inspection.
When the driver arrived at the dock, a canine team alerted officers to the trailer.
Upon inspection of the trailer’s contents, officers discovered boxes containing packages of marijuana wrapped in paper printed with photos of jalapeño peppers that had been intermixed with real jalapeño peppers.
Officers seized a total of 100 large wrapped packages containing 527 pounds of marijuana which were estimated to carry a street value of $211,000.
Between Friday, October 25 and Sunday, October 27, CBP officers at Calexico, Tecate, Otay Mesa, and San Ysidro ports of entry intercepted a total of 617 pounds of marijuana as well as 590 pounds of methamphetamine, 18 pounds of cocaine, and five pounds of heroin that were hidden inside of vehicle doors, gas tanks, and strapped to people’s bodies.
CPB officers seized all vehicles and narcotics and involved suspects were turned over for Homeland Security Investigations for further processing.
