U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered more than just dairy in four large wheels of cheese passing through customs into Texas at the Presidio Port of Entry last Thursday.
Upon inspection of a pickup truck arriving from Mexico, X-ray scans of the seemingly innocuous cheese wheels revealed unexpected anomalies.
“CBP officers cut open the cheese and discovered bundles filled with cocaine,” according to a CBP news release.
The stash amounted to 17.8 pounds of the illegal substance, which carries a first-degree felony charge in Texas. The 22-year-old U.S. citizen who was driving the truck faces a punishment of up to 99 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if found guilty.
The driver, who had legally declared the wheels of cheese, is now in the custody of Homeland Security Investigations. His truck, along with its cargo, was seized by officials.
“Smugglers will sometimes try to conceal contraband in items that appear innocent to deflect suspicion,” explained Daniel Mercado, CBP Presidio port director, in the news release.
Last fall, CBP seized 44 pounds of liquid methamphetamine that had been stuffed into pumpkins at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Between May and June, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and fentanyl at the border increased by 7%, according to CBP.
Drug crimes are a major problem in Dallas in particular, where reliable crime statistics remain unavailable due to an alleged ransomware attack against the City’s computer servers in early May. In the first four months of the year, however, the City had logged 3,542 drug and narcotic violations.
The Dallas Police Department recently launched a violent crime task force that targets crime hot spots in the city, including suspected drug houses, as previously covered in The Dallas Express.
“For every drug house that they hit with weapons and drugs, there are aggravated assaults and murders that were stopped because of that,” Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia told WFAA.
It is currently unclear whether that reduction is being felt in Downtown Dallas, where crime consistently outpaces offenses in nearby Fort Worth’s downtown, which is reportedly patrolled by its own geographically dedicated unit in collaboration with private security guards.