A hearse traveling across the U.S. border in Arizona raised suspicions Saturday and a search revealed thousands of dollars of marijuana stuffed into a coffin.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents monitoring an immigration checkpoint near Tombstone, Arizona spotted the white hearse Saturday, traveling north from the checkpoint. Agents decided to stop the vehicle, which had one occupant and a coffin in the back at the intersection of Highway 90 and Highway 82, reports Douglas Dispatch.
After speaking with the man, who gave inconsistent statements, agents called in a canine unit that alerted them of the drugs. Agents searching the hearse found roughly 67 pounds of marijuana stuffed inside the coffin, which carries an estimated street value of $33,000.
Agents searching the hearse also found a number of bags of manure in the coffin, which the driver used in an attempt to mask the smell of marijuana. Authorities arrested the driver, a 28-year-old American citizen, on charges of narcotics smuggling.
Drug traffickers often get creative to hide their supply. Authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border uncovered 16.5 pounds of cocaine and firearm components stuffed in the engine of an SUV attempting to cross into the U.S. April 8. Officers initially noticed anomalies with the engine of the 1995 GMC Sonoma and called in a CBP canine team to investigate further, which discovered the hidden drugs.
The cocaine is estimated to carry a street value of roughly $528,000, making it the second largest cocaine bust at the Santa Teresa port on the New Mexico border. Agents seized 31.5 pounds of cocaine at the Santa Teresa port March 29 worth roughly $1 million.
Security at Dulles International Airport recently seized 1.56 pounds of heroin hidden inside lollipops in a man’s luggage.
Oddly enough, after conducting an interview, officers concluded the unidentified man had no idea he was transporting heroin within the lollipops and did not charge him.
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