From The Creative Drug Smuggling Files: Would You Like Some Meth With That Cheese Sauce?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection / December 6, 2011

Drug smugglers are creative people, and an Oxnard man decided to mix his methamphetamine smuggling with canned cuisine.

Federal agents arrested a 21-year-old Mexican citizen on Tuesday morning at the San Ysidro border crossing on suspicion of trying to smuggle meth into the U.S. inside two cans of cheese sauce and one can of jalapenos.

The cans, which probably cost just a few dollars total, were holding seven pounds of meth worth an estimated $140,000. The goods, along with the driver's 1999 Toyota Solara, were seized at the border crossing.

L.A. Now reports that the driver claimed he was returning to the U.S. after a grocery shopping trip in Mexico. Officers deemed the cans too heavy, scanned them using an X-ray machine and discovered the hidden packages.

California Border Protection (CBP) public affairs officer Angelica De Cima told KTLA that the driver, who lives in Oxnard, was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

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