Watermelon wrapping used to hide 2 tons of meth, CBP says

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Like tiny gifts, smugglers wrapped packages of meth in bright green plastic with stripes that made them look like small watermelons.

Each bundle of meth resembled a small watermelon piñata or a paper watermelon lantern. They arrived last Friday at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry Commercial Facility in San Diego in a tractor-trailer driven by a 29-year-old man who was supposed to be hauling real watermelons.

It is unclear if the truck was carrying any actual fruit, but during a more thorough inspection, agents discovered they were hiding 1,220 packages of meth.

In all, border officers found 4,587 pounds of meth worth more than $5 million, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa, praised officers for uncovering “sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods.”

“As drug cartels continue to evolve their smuggling techniques, we will continue finding new and better ways to prevent these dangerous drugs and other contraband from entering the country,” she said.

CBP officers seized the narcotics and the tractor-trailer, while the driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation, CBP said.

Smugglers have used wrapping that resembles a vegetable or fruit in the past.

In October 2020, also at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility, smugglers used plastic bags with printed images of green onions to hide meth. CBP said officers found 183 packages of meth deep inside a shipment of produce.

CBP said this month’s watermelon bust was the result of a counter-fentanyl effort dubbed “Operation Apollo,” which draws from federal, state and local law enforcement resources, as well as tribal and territorial partners, to collect intelligence. Operation Apollo on Oct. 26, 2023, in Southern California, and expanded to Arizona on April 10, 2024. Homeland Security Investigations recently announced that Operation Apollo will expand to the El Paso region in West Texas and New Mexico.