Customs and Border Protection has released its top ten
fascinating/interesting/bizarre finds for 2015. Most of the seizures
involve drugs, but there were also bugs, meat and hoverboards. Smugglers
got creative this year, stuffing meth into sneakers and making marijuana appear as watermelon.
CBP chose these seizures to demonstrate the various ways that criminal
organizations attempt to smuggle narcotics and people into the U.S.
The list is in no particular order, according to the agency.
1. Illegal Pork Meat Tamales
On Nov. 2, CBP agriculture specialists at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) seized 450 prohibited pork meat tamales, which were discovered inside the luggage of a passenger arriving from Mexico, according to the agency.
“Although tamales are a popular holiday tradition, foreign meat products
can carry serious animal diseases from countries affected by outbreaks
of Avian Influenza, Mad Cow and Swine Fever," said Anne Maricich, CBP Acting Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles at the time.
2. Semi-Submersible Vessel With 8 Tons of Cocaine
Law enforcement partners, including CBP Office of Air and Marine agents,
uncovered 16,870 pounds of cocaine packed inside the semi-submersible
drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean on July 18. The
estimated street value of the drugs was hundreds of millions of dollars.
Drug traffickers use these custom-built crafts to move large amounts of
drugs and illicit contraband because the vessel's low profile can make
detection difficult, according to CBP. They are similar to a submarine,
with a significant portion of the hull below the waterline.
3. Drugs Shaped Like Watermelons
In May, CBP officers confiscated 1,455 pounds of marijuana, worth
$728,000, from a Mexican national when he attempted to enter the U.S.
via the Port of Nogales. His tractor-trailer caught the attention of a
CBP narcotics detection canine and 128 bales of melon-shaped marijuana
was discovered, according to the CBP.
4. 69 Packages of Meth in a Car
In a double bust on March 25, $1.3 million worth of narcotics were
discovered hidden inside two different cars. Agents found 1.21 pounds of
black tar heroin,
17.20 pounds of China White heroin, and 22.38 pounds of crystal
methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $573,720. Multiple
bundles were found hidden inside a false compartment, according to CBP.
Hours later, agents stopped another car, with 69 packages of
methamphetamine hidden in the rear quarter panels of the vehicle. The
methamphetamine weighed a total of 82.36 pounds and has an estimated
street value of $823,600.
5. Hitchhiking bugs
CBP also attempts to prevent the entry of plant pests and exotic foreign
animal diseases that could harm agricultural resources. In August,
agriculture specialists at the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry intercepted two first-in-the-nation pests within commercial shipments of fresh papayas and limes.
These creepy crawlies were identified as Derobrachus inaequalis (Cerambycidae) and Eusattus venosus Champion (Tenebrionidae).
6. Hoverboards -- Not From the Future
With Christmas just around the corner, major safety concerns have arisen
over reports of fires starting in some of the self-balancing
hoverboards. On Wednesday, CBP seized 445 hoverboards with counterfeit
trademarks and fake, potentially dangerous, batteries from the Port of
Norfolk, Virginia, according to CBP.
The seized hoverboard shipment had a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of more than $171,000.
7. Spools of Cable Filled With Drugs
In April, a 1994 Peterbilt tractor towing a flatbed trailer entered the
Bridge of the Americas commercial cargo lot from Mexico. The flatbed
trailer was transporting six reels of wound cable. It turned out that
those spools contained 1,365 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated
street value of $1,092,000.
“Because of the complexity of the drug concealment, it took CBP more
than 12 hours to open and remove the drugs from specially built
compartments,” said CBP El Paso Port Director Beverly Good.
8. Meth in Shoes
Better call Saul. In July, a 51-year-old man was apprehended when a CBP
officer working at the Paso Del Norte port of entry noticed that the
approaching pedestrian appeared to wearing bulky shoes. Officers found
2.4 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in his sneakers.
9. Cocaine Inside Fried Fish
CBP officers at the Miami International Airport discovered 2 pounds of
cocaine concealed inside fried fish that was being carried in the
luggage of a passenger arriving from Jamaica in June. Officers noticed
anomalies in some of the cooked fish when it went through the X-ray
machine and upon further examination saw that the bellies of some of the
fish were sewn together and certain fish felt thicker than the rest.
“Drug smugglers are using increasingly innovative methods," said Miami International Airport Port Director Christopher Maston.
10. Cloned Border Patrol Vehicle With Undocumented Immigrants
Earlier this month, 12 undocumented immigrants were piled into a fake Border Patrol vehicle, but it was later spotted and pulled over by real Border Patrol agents.
"Smugglers have resorted to desperate measures to conduct their illicit
business," said Mario Martinez, Chief of the Laredo Sector Border
Patrol. Martinez cited the "training, attention to detail and vigilance
of our Border Patrol agents" for stopping the human smuggling attempt
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