NEW YORK: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers foiled a drug smugglers fishy plot at Miami International Airport this past weekend, seizing more than two pounds of cocaine from one of the most unlikely of places.
According to the agency, the drugs were discovered inside of several fried fish the passenger, who was arriving from Jamaica, had stored in his luggage.
An X-ray examination of the luggage showed oddities in the fish, prompting officers to take a closer look. After noticing that some of the fish were thicker than others and had had their bellies cut open and sewn back together, officers searched inside and uncovered 2.3 pounds of cocaine.
“CBP officers are an instrumental part of the detailed inspection process designed to detect illegal narcotics entering the United States,” said Miami International Airport Port Director Christopher Maston in a statement. “Drug smugglers are using increasingly innovative methods and this interception is an excellent example of how our highly trained officers continue to use their experience and knowledge to detect and interdict the flow of illegal narcotics.”
CBP reports officers seized a combined 3.8 million pounds of narcotics across the U.S. during the 2014 fiscal year.
Despite the unusual nature of this plot, it isn’t the first time that smugglers have tried and failed to use fish to sneak drugs across a border. Last year, two people were busted in Sydney, Australia, for smuggling $68 million of heroin and methamphetamine inside frozen fish fillets. And in 2013, two men were caught smuggling liquid cocaine inside South American tropical fish on a flight to London.
