U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials discovered over $4 million worth of cocaine hidden in decorative stone on Jan. 11.
The shipment was reportedly found in a tractor-trailer at the Tecate Cargo Facility in San Diego, California, according to a CBP news release published Wednesday. Officials randomly inspected one of the stones and found an abnormality that prompted a deeper investigation into the contents of the shipment.
San Diego CBP officers working on January 11 seized $4M worth of cocaine concealed within a shipment manifested as decorative stone. The packages of cocaine were hidden within a plaster-like material designed to appear like stones.
Read: https://t.co/XXp22RSZn3 pic.twitter.com/7rdp6UIgSJ
— CBP (@CBP) January 20, 2023
A drug-sniffing K9 alerted officers to the possibility of drugs in the shipment, according to CBP. The officers then seized 57 individually wrapped packages of cocaine weighing approximately 256 pounds. The cocaine has a street value of approximately $4.1 million. (RELATED: Police Seize Over 11,000 Pounds Of Cocaine From Yacht In Atlantic Ocean)
“It is evident from the immense efforts to conceal these narcotics that our officers are effective in the jobs that they do,” CBP San Diego Director of Field Operations Jennifer De La O said in the news release. “The men and women of CBP are relentlessly working together to stop the negative impacts that narcotics have in the communities.”
Officers took the driver into custody and transferred him to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the news release said.