United States border agents have intercepted a truck carrying more than $5m-worth of methamphetamine at the US-Mexico border hidden inside a shipment of watermelons.
The drugs were wrapped in plastic painted in two shades of green to resemble the fruit and placed among real watermelons.
More than two tonnes of methamphetamine – in a total of 1,220 packages – was seized by officers.
Stashing drugs among produce is a common way to smuggle the illicit substances across borders – banana shipments are the most popular but officers have recently found narcotics in Gouda cheese and avocados.
US Customs and Border Protection officials said their officers had stopped a truck hauling a trailer at the border with Mexico in Otay Mesa.
The paperwork suggested the driver was transporting a shipment for watermelons, but a inspection revealed the parcels containing methamphetamine.
Also known simply as meth, it is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant.
