U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents confiscated pumpkins filled with over $400,000 of liquid methamphetamine stashed inside more than 100 condoms Tuesday at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry in Texas.
Authorities said the pumpkins were among Halloween decorations that were not what they seemed upon discovering the narcotics.
“Our frontline CBP officers have seen just about everything and this Tuesday was no exception as they encountered liquid methamphetamine hidden within pumpkins,” Acting Port Director Elizabeth Garduno said. “They utilized their training, experience, interviewing skills and uncovered a rather novel narcotics smuggling method in the process.”
Border officers encountered a 2012 Ford Escape arriving from Mexico at the Camino Real International Bridge when authorities referred the driver and passenger for a secondary inspection.
The inspection led to officers finding nearly 44 pounds of alleged liquid methamphetamine — estimated at $402,196 — concealed within 136 condoms inside four pumpkins within the vehicle.
Following the narcotics seizure, authorities turned the driver and passenger over to the custody of Maverick County Sheriff’s Office deputies for further investigation.
ABC News reports that in the fiscal year 2022, border patrol authorities seized 161,000 pounds of methamphetamine. In the previous fiscal year, the agency seized 192,000 pounds of meth.
Transporting narcotics inside Halloween decorations wasn’t the only creative way smugglers have attempted to bring the drugs over the border.
On Wednesday, Arizona border agents said in a tweet that they found 2,100 fentanyl pills hidden inside tamales in an ice chest at the Nogales Port Of Entry.
“Each tamale contained a baggie of blue pills hidden inside,” Port Director Michael W. Humphries said. “Excellent work by officers and K9 teams maintaining a high level of vigilance.”
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