Border patrol officials found Tuesday what the agency said was $400,000 worth of methamphetamine hidden inside pumpkins at the U.S-Mexico border in Texas, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The discovery was made at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry across from Piedras Negras when an SUV coming from Mexico was referred for further inspection, CBP said.
CBP said 136 condoms were filled with 44 pounds of liquid methamphetamine and hidden inside four pumpkins. A photo released by the agency appeared to show items packed into a hollowed out squash. It characterized them as Halloween decorations.
The driver and passenger were taken into custody, CBP said.
On Oct. 2, CBP officers found 36 pounds of meth — worth an estimated $328,000 — in a vehicle at the same port of entry, according to the agency.
In September at the Del Rio Port of Entry, which is also along the border Texas, CBP said $11.9 million worth of methamphetamine was found in a tractor-trailer.
Most of the methamphetamine in the United States is made in Mexico by criminal organizations and smuggled across the southwest border, the Drug Enforcement Administration said in a 2020 assessment that was released last year.
Based on seizures of labs, dump sites or equipment by police, there used to be a lot more meth labs in the United States; seizures peaked in 2004 but have dramatically decreased since then, according to the report. There were 23,703 “laboratory incidents” in the U.S. in 2004, but 890 in 2019, it said.
