Roughly 66 pounds of meth stashed in canned food was uncovered at a Texas airport by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, the agency announced.
CBP agriculture specialists and officers found the “unusual surprise,” weighing 66.3 pounds and believed to be worth more than $225,000, at Houston Intercontinental Airport Tuesday while examining shipments, the CBP said in a news release.
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The drug haul entered the U.S. “in a shipment arriving from Mexico” and was stored inside containers of hominy, tomato puree and mole, the agency said.
An agriculture specialist inspecting the delivery spotted “an irregular weight distribution” of a tomato puree can, prompting him to hand it over to a CBP officer to be examined, the news release said.
“When CBP officers opened the canned item, they found an odd colored liquid substance that began crystalizing. Testing indicated a positive result for methamphetamines,” the CBP said.
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The agency’s agriculture specialists received praise for the drug discovery.
“This particular seizure illustrates how well trained, experienced and committed to our mission that our CBP agriculture specialists are,” Houston Area Port Director Raymond S. Polley said in the news release. “His attention to detail resulted in the prevention of over 66 pounds of methamphetamines from ending up in the hands of our community.”