That bust at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2012 was one of
tens of thousands of drug seizures made by customs agents each year at
the nation's airports, including many where drugs were hidden inside
food.
Customs officers stopping travelers coming and going from the United
States have found drugs disguised as cream filling in cookies, in bags
of coffee, bottles of rum, and stuffed inside bricks of frozen meat,
among other places.
"Drug smugglers, mules, what have you, they use various consumer
methods. Depending on how much experience they've had, (officers have)
probably seen every concealment method under the sun," said Anthony
Bucci, the public affairs specialist for Customs and Border Protection's
New York regional office.
Customs officials made 153,000 drug seizures from people trying to enter
or leave the country between the 2011 and 2015 fiscal years in the top
five ports of entry alone, according to the agency.
Officers in the New York region — including Kennedy, LaGuardia and
Newark airports — made more than 72,000 stops over the five-year span,
and Chicago had more than 36,000.
-culled abc news
The gallery was curated by Associated Press writer Josh Cornfield in Philadelphia.
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