8 Kg Of Cocaine Hidden Inside Cheese Wheels Seized By US Custom Officials

Drug smugglers across the globe are always trying new ways to hide their merchandise and stay one step ahead of the law, this time their latest trick was cheese. Nearly 18 pounds of cocaine from Mexico was discovered hidden inside four large wheels of cheddar cheese by US Customs officers at the Presidio Port of Entry in Texas on July 20.

A pickup truck entering Mexico was referred for a secondary inspection. An X-ray scan of the cheese revealed anomalies, which upon further inspection turned out to be 17.8 pounds of cocaine concealed inside the wheels, Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

The officials seized the truck and the drugs. The 22-year-old driver was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations to face charges connected to the failed smuggling attempt.

"Smugglers will sometimes try to conceal contraband in items that appear innocent to deflect suspicion," said CBP Presidio Port Director Daniel Mercado. "The thorough and extensive inspections performed by CBP officers stopped this unusual drug load from reaching its intended destination."

In another instance, Italian authorities seized a record 5.3-tonne cocaine haul being transferred between ships off the southern coast of Sicily, police said on Friday. The consignment had an estimated value of 850 million euros ($946 million) and five people have been arrested, the Guardia di Finanza said in a statement.

Police had been tracking a ship that sailed from South America and swooped in the early hours of July 19 when a surveillance aircraft spotted packages being thrown from its deck into the waters of the Strait of Sicily to be collected by a waiting fishing trawler.

They stopped the trawler and found large quantities of drugs in a hidden compartment behind some panelling on the vessel. Two Tunisians, an Italian, an Albanian and a French national were arrested.