Somehow, These Fake 'Melons' Failed to Fool Border Agents

Meth, wrapped in plastic and painted to deceive, was intercepted at border
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 22, 2024 2:15 PM CDT
Somehow, These Fake 'Melons' Failed to Fool Border Agents
One of the fake watermelons.   (US Customs and Border Protection)

The thing is, it probably took a lot of time to paint the drug packages to look like watermelons. But the results were, let's say, not that great. As a result, US border agents intercepted more than $5 million worth of methamphetamine at the US-Mexico border, reports the BBC. A release from the US Customs and Border Protection explains that agents at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in San Diego inspected a truck purported to be carrying watermelons from Mexico and discovered that more than 1,200 of the "melons" were actually packages of meth, wrapped in plastic and painted two shades of green.

The 29-year-old driver is now in custody. The scheme isn't entirely novel: CBS News reports that earlier in the month—at the same border point—agents discovered more than 629 pounds of meth (with a street value of $755,000) hidden within a large shipment of celery. In that case, however, smugglers did not attempt to paint the plastic bags of meth to look like produce. (More Customs and Border Protection stories.)

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