Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently made an unusual drug discovery in a commercial shipment of cereal from South America.
The drug discovery was made at the Port of Cincinnati on February 13.
CBP says that the drugs were discovered when Narcotic Detector Dog “Bico” was inspecting a large commercial shipment of cereal that originated in Peru that was headed to a private residence in Hong Kong.
The dog alerted to the cereal, which prompted officers to open the box to take a closer look. When they did, “they saw that the cereal contained white powder, and the flakes were coated with a grayish substance. Officers tested the flakes and powder and found they contained cocaine, a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act.”
The shipment contained 44 pounds of cocaine coated corn flakes, which could have a street value of up to $2,822,400, CBP said in a news release.
Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie emphasized that smugglers will hide narcotics in anything imaginable. “The men and women at the Port of Cincinnati are committed to stopping the flow of dangerous drugs, and they continue to use their training, intuition, and strategic skills to prevent these kinds of illegitimate shipments from reaching the public.”