Border Patrol Found More Than Pulp Inside These Pumpkins

Officials discovered $400K worth of meth in gourds arriving from Mexico
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2022 9:30 AM CDT
Border Patrol Finds $400K in Meth Hidden in Pumpkins
One of the drug-filled pumpkins.   (Customs and Border Protection)

Last week, more than $300,000 worth of methamphetamine was uncovered at Texas' Eagle Pass Port of Entry, across from Piedras Negras in Mexico. This week, drug smugglers got a little more creative with their meth stash: cramming it into four condom-filled pumpkins, reports NBC News. A release from Customs and Border Protection notes that CBP officers at the bridge connecting the US to Mexico stopped a 2012 Ford Escape crossing over from the other side. The SUV was referred for further inspection, which is when authorities found the pumpkin quartet inside the vehicle.

What appeared to be just Halloween decorations or the ingredients for a pie, however, turned out to hold something more inside—specifically, 136 condoms filled with liquid meth, totaling almost 44 pounds. "Our front-line CBP officers have seen just about everything and this Tuesday was no exception," says Elizabeth Garduno, the port of entry's acting director. "They utilized their training, experience, [and] interviewing skills and uncovered a rather novel narcotics smuggling method in the process."

The CBP officers seized the drugs and the SUV and handed over both the vehicle's driver and passenger to the Maverick County Sheriff's Office for further investigation. Meanwhile, CBP officials posted online on Wednesday that the previous day in Arizona, they'd found about 2,100 fentanyl pills stuffed inside tamales in an ice chest, per ABC News. "Each tamale contained a baggie of blue pills hidden inside," the CBP noted. (More US-Mexico border stories.)

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