A whole lot of bud packed inside bumpy green spheres discreetly mixed in with real key limes nearly made it across the Mexican border.
It took an imaging inspection system and a K-9 team, with their doggie sniffing abilities that are 10,000 times more acute than ours, to discover that over 34,000 “limes” had no tart juice inside them.
Agents discovered nearly 4,000 pounds of weed once they knew where to look. No details on how they sorted through the obviously handmade, hand-painted fake limes which, in viewing the photos, look like Easter eggs painted by a third grader.
The lime-hauling tractor trailer was stopped when it crossed the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge along the Texas-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico.
“This is an outstanding interception of narcotics. Our CBP officers continue to excel in their knowledge of smuggling techniques, which allows them to intercept these kinds of attempts to introduce narcotics into our country,” said Port Director Efrain Solis Jr. in a statement, according to WESH2 .
This sounds familiar. Why? Because the same thing happened several weeks ago, then several weeks before that, then several weeks before that, at the same border crossing.
On January 17, agents found 3,000 pounds of weed disguised as fresh watermelons, which looked like a cross between a bunch of mini piñatas and stubby green sausage rolls.
On that occasion, Solis admitted that, “Smugglers continue to be creative as they attempt to introduce illegal narcotics into our country.” Although, frankly, the paint job was not terribly convincing.
Shortly before the watermelon caper, fake carrots were caught sneaking in with over a ton of weed inside them.
Solis had similar comments that the “drug smuggling organizations have demonstrated their creativity,” yet again.
This past August, 4,064 pounds of properly packaged weed was discovered in a shipment of limes.
Again, at the same border crossing, by the same agents, with the same K-9 pooches under the same port director. Maybe it’s better this way.