US Border Patrol agents seized more than 2,000 pounds of methamphetamine worth $19 million hidden in a shipment of jalapeños and cucumbers at the southern border Tuesday night, authorities said.
Agents made the bust — which also included more than $140,000 worth of heroin among the veggies — after drug dogs alerted inspectors to possible narcotics inside a tractor-trailer at the Pharr International Bridge, which crosses into Texas, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
In total, CBP confiscated 8,206 packages of methamphetamine and 26 packages of heroin.
“Our CBP officers don’t skip a beat when it comes to securing our border. This interception illustrates the important work CBP does to secure our border from harmful narcotics,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
Agents made two other meth busts on the same day, at a crossing east of Mexicali, CBP said.
In the first, K-9 units alerted inspectors to possible narcotics hidden in a pickup truck operated by a Mexican citizen with a permanent residency in the US.
The truck turned out to be riddled with meth, with 92 packages hidden in the spare tire, tailgate, and speakers.
Later that day, agents caught a 65-year-old woman trying to drive across the border with four pounds of meth strapped around her torso.
The combined value of narcotics seized in those two busts was more than $150,000.
Both drivers were turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.