Fake onions hid 1,300 pounds of meth in ‘clever’ smuggling scheme, feds say

A shipment of onions at a border crossing into California from Mexico involved more than met the eye, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents reported.

An agency K9 inspecting the big-rig cargo detected drugs at the Otay Mesa crossing near San Diego on Feb. 20, the agency said in a news release.

Agents discovered 1,197 packets of methamphetamine “shaped into small globes with a white covering, designed to blend into the onions,” the release said.

They seized 1,336 pounds of meth with an estimated street value of $2.9 million, agents said.

“This was not only a clever attempt to try and smuggle in narcotics, one I haven’t seen before, but also time-consuming to wrap narcotics into these small packages, designed to look like onions,” said Sidney Aki, director of field Operations in San Diego.

“While we have certainly seen narcotics in produce before, it’s unusual for us to see this level of detail in the concealment,” Aki said.

The 46-year-old driver, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and turned over to immigration authorities, the release said. The tractor-trailer was seized.

This story was originally published February 27, 2022 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Fake onions hid 1,300 pounds of meth in ‘clever’ smuggling scheme, feds say."