Smugglers hide drugs in food
Smugglers hide drugs in food
-
1/11 Methamphetamine in chocolate bar
This July 2012 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows methamphetamine disguised as a chocolate candy bar in Los Angeles. Officials said a California man tried to smuggle more than 4 pounds of methamphetamine out of the country disguised as 45 individually wrapped chocolate bars at Los Angeles International Airport.
AP
-
2/11 Cocaine in coffee
This October 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows a packet of cocaine hidden in a bag of ground coffee in Miami. Three bags of roasted, ground coffee arriving at Miami International Airport in a package from Guatemala in October were actually filled with more than 3 pounds of heroin, customs officials said.
AP
-
3/11 Cocaine in powdered milk
This November 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows bags of powdered dairy product that contained cocaine in New York. A woman arriving at Kennedy International Airport in New York from Guyana was found with six bags of milk and custard powder that were filled with cocaine.
AP
-
4/11 Cocaine in custard powder
This November 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows bags, marked as holding powdered dairy products, that hold cocaine in New York. A woman arriving at Kennedy International Airport in New York from Guyana was found with six bags of milk and custard powder that were filled with cocaine.
AP
-
5/11 Cocaine in various foods
This October 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows an array of food products concealing cocaine in Newark, N.J. A U.S. citizen arriving from Peru at Newark Liberty International Airport in October had an assortment of food in his luggage that customs officials found also included 10 pounds of cocaine.
AP
-
6/11 Cocaine in vanilla wafers
This April 2015 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows vanilla wafers filled with cocaine in Houston.
AP
-
7/11 Cocaine in vanilla wafers
A Guatemalan citizen arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport from Guatemala City in April with packages of vanilla wafers. But when customs officials opened them up, they said they found they were filled with cocaine instead of cream filling.
AP
-
8/11 Liquid cocaine in rum bottles
This December 2014 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows rum bottles filled with liquid cocaine in New York. A man arriving from Guyana at Kennedy International Airport in New York was found to be carrying the bottles that customs officials said were filled with 18 pounds worth of liquid cocaine.
AP
-
9/11 Cocaine paste in chocolate syrup
This February 2012 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows plastic packets of chocolate syrup and salad dressing concealing cocaine paste in Los Angeles. A mother and daughter traveling from Spain were carrying bags of condiments that customs officials at Los Angeles International Airport decided felt unusually thick. They opened it up to find a plastic bag with cocaine paste placed inside, and then found another syrup packet in their checked-in luggage that contained more cocaine paste.
AP
-
10/11 Opium in cinnamon packets
This June 2012 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows packets of opium covered in cinnamon hidden inside a rice cooker in Los Angeles. Officials found the rice cooker stuffed with 3 pounds' worth of black opium, which had been coated in cinnamon and wrapped in plastic, being transported by a man arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from Iran.
AP
-
11/11 Cocaine in frozen meat
This undated photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in October 2015 shows a block of cocaine concealed in a package of frozen meat in New York. A man arrived at Kennedy International Airport from Trinidad with three large packages of frozen meat in his suitcase.
AP
Something about the dozens of individually wrapped chocolate bars in the luggage of a man flying from California to Japan struck a federal Customs and Border Protection officer as odd. Sure enough, when unwrapped, they turned out to be more than 4 pounds of methamphetamine covered by a "chocolate-like substance."
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 America'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 consumer 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.
Associated Press
