Jalapeño pepper wrapping paper hides 500 pounds of marijuana, US border agents say
United States border agents unwrapped a surprise inside a shipment of produce last week at a California port of entry with Mexico, according to federal officials.
Officers inspecting a tractor-trailer carrying mixed produce Oct. 25 discovered “packages wrapped with jalapeño pepper wrapping paper comingled with real jalapeños,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a news release on Wednesday.
Border officials said a 28-year-old Mexican man was driving the truck through the port around 7 p.m. when a dog team alerted to the vehicle, revealing the drugs hidden inside.
Inside the truck there were “100 large wrapped packages weighing 527 pounds, with an estimated street value of $211,000,” officials said.
The driver was stopped at the Otay Mesa port of entry, FOX 5 San Diego reports.
According to CBP, the vehicle and drugs were seized.
Photos released by CBP show the wrapped boxes tucked within cardboard boxes that hold jalapeño peppers and peas.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Jalapeño pepper wrapping paper hides 500 pounds of marijuana, US border agents say."
