When customs officials encountered a pickup truck transporting four large wheels of cheese from Mexico into the Presidio Port of entry in Texas Thursday, they had a hunch something was off.
An X-ray scan of the cheese revealed “anomalies,” which upon further inspection turned out to be 17.8 pounds of cocaine concealed inside the wheels, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Officials seized the drugs and the truck. The 22-year-old driver, a US citizen who legally declared the cheese, will face charges for the failed smuggling attempt, the agency said.
“Smugglers will sometimes try to conceal contraband in items that appear innocent to deflect suspicion,” Daniel Mercado, director of Customs and Border Protection at the Presidio Port said. “The thorough and extensive inspections performed by CBP officers stopped this unusual drug load from reaching its intended destination.”
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