$5m of meth disguised as watermelons seized at border

A week before the bust, border agents found another meth shipment hidden in a truck filled with celery

A bag filled with meth that has been disguised as a watermelon. A smuggler attempted to move $5m worth of meth across the Otay Mesa border crossing in Otay Mesa, California (US Customs and Border Patrol)

A smuggler was caught trying to move more than $5m worth of meth into California last week by disguising the drugs as watermelons.

US Customs and Border Patrol announced on Tuesday that agents intercepted a smuggler on Friday during a secondary inspection at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility at the Otay Mesa crossing.

The incident began when a 29-year-old man driving a truck pulled up to the border. When asked what the man was hauling, the said they were watermelons. The CBP agents sent him for a secondary inspection.

The watermelons were unloaded from the truck for further inspection. That's when the agents found a few odd looking melons in the load.

"Upon careful inspection, officers uncovered 1,220 packages wrapped in paper, disguised as watermelons within the shipment. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as methamphetamine, with a total weight 4587 pounds. The estimated street value of the drugs exceeds $5 million dollars," the CBP wrote in a statement.

The driver was handed over to the US Department of Homeland Security for further investigation while the truck and drugs were seized by CBP agents.

Plastic containers holding some of the bags disguised as watermelons (US Customs and Border Patrol)

“I am incredibly proud of our team for their exceptional work over the past few weeks in uncovering sophisticated and diverse smuggling methods," Rosa E Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa, said in a statement. "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."

Agents at the same facility intercepted nearly 630 pounds of meth approximately a week ago. That time, smugglers were trying to hide the drugs in a celery shipment, according to another press release.

That shipment was valued at approximately $755,000.

Unlike the San Ysidro border, the Otay Mesa crossing typically has less tourist traffic but plenty of commercial and agricultural traffic. The crossing is about 25 minutes east of San Ysidro.

Both busts occurred under the agency's Operation Apollo, which it described as a "holistic counter-fentanyl effort" it launched in October. The initiative expanded from California to Arizona in April.

Operation Apollo "focuses on intelligence collection and partnerships, and utilizes local CBP field assets augmented by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to boost resources, increase collaboration, and target the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States," the CBP said.