U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas discovered more than $31 million worth of methamphetamine disguised as a shipment of spicy serrano peppers, authorities announced on Tuesday.
The peppers were on a tractor trailer that was chosen for inspection by CBP officers on Sunday.
A physical inspection then revealed 1,859 packages of alleged methamphetamine that weighed 2,155 pounds, according to the CBP. Field operations officers seized the peppers, drugs, and tractor trailer, and Homeland Security agents have kickstarted a criminal investigation.
“Our CBP officers continue to remain vigilant and intercepted this massive methamphetamine load, preventing it from reaching American streets,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, in a statement.
The concealed serrano pepper shipment isn’t the largest recorded seizure this year, according to the CBP.
In February, field operators discovered 13,000 pounds of alleged methamphetamine hidden in a tractor trailer chock full of absorbent materials used in pig farming to keep newborn piglets dry. The street value of the meth in that haul was $117 million, authorities said, making it the largest ever at a port in a single enforcement. Director of Field Operations in Laredo Donald Kussler described the seizure as “gargantuan.”
“For far too long, drug trafficking organizations have been raking in billions of dollars at the expense of our communities that are left ravaged by addiction, death and despair as a result of these poisonous substances,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston, at the time. He also thanked all the law enforcement agencies involved. “We have prevented a record-breaking amount of these narcotics from making it to Houston where they would have destroyed an untold number of lives.”