OTAY MESA–U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa commercial facility on Sunday discovered 614 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a shipment of green onions.
On July 19, at approximately 12:30 p.m. Customs and Border Protection officers encountered a 31-year-old male Mexican citizen driving a tractor pulling a trailer with a shipment manifested as “mint leaves and other spices.” The officer referred the driver along with the tractor and trailer to the X-ray imaging system.
During the X-ray exam, officers identified anomalies within the shipment and sent the truck/trailer to the dock for a more intensive examination. A Customs and Border Protection canine team screened the conveyance and the detector dog alerted to the shipment.
CBP officers probed the boxes and discovered a crystal like substance that field-tested positive for the properties of methamphetamine. CBP officers extracted 40 wrapped packages of methamphetamine co-mingled with the green onions.
The driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further processing.
The seized methamphetamine has an estimated street value of $1.4 million.
Customs and Border Protection officers seized the tractor, trailer and narcotics.
