A trailer carrying a shipment of fresh spinach through a checkpoint in south San Diego County wasn’t just hauling greens – there was $1.3 million worth of methamphetamine mixed in with the vegetables, officials confirmed.
At around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the Otay Mesa commercial facility inspected a tractor pulling a trailer “with a shipment manifested as fresh spinach.”
During the inspection, a CBP officer had the driver and trailer run through the port’s X-ray imaging system. During the X-ray, it became clear there was much more than just spinach in the trailer.
The CBP said officers referred the tractor and the trailer over to a dock area for a more intensive inspection. A CBP K-9 officer screened the trailer and alerted officers to the shipment of spinach, CBP officials said.
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Inside the shipment, officers found 127 wrapped packages of meth mixed in with the boxes of fresh spinach. To blend in, the bundles were wrapped in green tape and then also wrapped with photos of bright green spinach leaves.
The CBP said the drugs weighed more than 580 pounds and were worth more than $1.3 million.
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Officers took custody of the tractor, trailer and meth.
The driver – a 49-year-old Mexican citizen – was turned over to agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homelands Security Investigations. He was booked into the Metropolitan Correction Center in San Diego County on suspicion of drug smuggling.
