PHARR, TX – This lime shipment was taking the high road, but unfortunately so was U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

KETK News reports that officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations at the Pharr International Bridge seized $1,489,000 worth of marijuana that was discovered in a commercial shipment of fresh limes.

Now, when we heard that limes were going to be much higher than expected this summer, this is not what we had in mind.

The incident occurred after CBP officers encountered a white 1993 International tractor/trailer.  The commercial manifest indicated that the fresh lime shipment had already been pre-targeted for inspection and required a secondary inspection, according to KETK.

“Our officers’ outstanding targeting techniques enabled them to zero-in on this shipment and produce the ultimate goal of detecting illicit contraband, which is one of our main priorities within CBP Field Operations,” said Efrain Solis Jr., Port Director, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas.

The team utilized a vehicle non-intrusive imaging system to discover packages of the hidden narcotics in the boxes of limes.  576 packages were seized with an approximate weight of 1,489 pounds.

The lime shipment made it through unscathed, but we’ve heard reports that they’ve made several stops for fast food and snacks along the way to their final destination.