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grey placeholderCBP A close-up of the drugs wrapped in plastic to resemble a watermelonCBP

The drugs were concealed in coloured wrapping to resemble watermelons<!-- -->

United States border agents have intercepted a truck carrying more than $5m-worth of methamphetamine at the US-Mexico border hidden inside a shipment of watermelons.

The drugs were wrapped in plastic painted in two shades of green to resemble the fruit and placed among real watermelons.

More than two tonnes of methamphetamine – in a total of 1,220 packages – was seized by officers.

Stashing drugs among produce is a common way to smuggle the illicit substances across borders – banana shipments are the most popular but officers have recently found narcotics in Gouda cheese and avocados.

US Customs and Border Protection officials said their officers had stopped a truck hauling a trailer at the border with Mexico in Otay Mesa.

The paperwork suggested the driver was transporting a shipment for watermelons, but a inspection revealed the parcels containing methamphetamine.

Also known simply as meth, it is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant.

grey placeholderCBP Parcels containing methamphetamineCBP

In total, border agents found 1,220 parcels containing meth<!-- -->

The driver was handed over to Homeland Security officials.

The seizure came a week after officials at the same border crossing discovered almost 300kg of meth in a shipment of celery.

Both hauls came to a total value of $6m, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

grey placeholderCBP Parcels of methamphetamine were hidden among bunches of celeryCBP

The meth in the celery shipment was discovered by a sniffer dog<!-- -->

Mexican drug cartels are the leading producers and suppliers of methamphetamine to the United States.

In February, Mexican security forces seized more than 40 tonnes of the drug at the biggest lab to be discovered in recent years.

Mexican officials said the lab boasted more than 200 centrifuges, boilers and condensing chambers – key equipment used to make the chemical.



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