On June 11th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detected and seized 1,619 pounds of concealed marijuana.
At around noon that Saturday, a flatbed truck hauling multiple pallets of large red landscaping stones made an attempt to cross the United States border at the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego, California.
A CBP agent inspected the truck and its cargo labeled as “red stone” and referred the truck for an x-ray examination. An apparent “anomaly” was discovered during the x-ray, causing it to be sent for further investigation.
According to NBC Los Angeles, a narcotics-detecting canine unit screened the truck and cargo and notified officers of the situation.
CBP agents drilled a hole into one to the red stones.
Inside the fake rocks was concealed marijuana.
Otay Mesa Cargo Port Director Rosa Hernandez told media:
“My officers not only need to enforce typical import and export laws, but also need to be vigilant for smuggling attempts like this.”
She furthered:
“Officers used their skill and tools at their disposal to find and seize this large shipment, and then used sledge hammers and jack hammers to remove the packages from the stone shaped objects made from a cement type material.”
In total, the stones were discovered to be concealing 577 packages of marijuana with an estimated street value of $810,000.