Tractor Driver Busted Ferrying Ksh.497M Worth Of Cocaine Concealed In Decorative Stone
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers at a cargo facility in San Diego, California, found over Ksh.497 million ($4 million) worth of cocaine concealed within a shipment of decorative stone.
The officers said they encountered a 36- year-old driver of a tractor trailer with a shipment manifested as decorative stone on January 11 and referred the driver along with the tractor trailer for a more intensive examination.
“During the exam, CBP officers randomly offloaded one of the commodities within the trailer and observed an anomaly on one of the stones. A CBP K-9 team screened the shipment and received a positive alert from the detector dog,” CBP said in a report.
Officers discovered 57 cellophane wrapped packages of cocaine. The packages of cnesocaine were concealed within a plaster-like material designed to appear like stones.
The customs officers extracted approximately 116 kg of cocaine worth an estimated street value of about $4.1 million.
CBP officers seized the narcotics, tractor, and trailer while the Mexican driver was detained for the alleged narcotic smuggling attempt.
“CBP officers turned the driver, a Mexican citizen, over to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for further disposition,” the report added.
