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Mexican Authorities Seize Approximately 550 Pounds in Drugs Hidden in Mango Shipments
HERMOSILLO, SO, MX - Mexican officials uncovered more than mere mangos when army officers at a checkpoint pulled a tractor-trailer over for inspection this Wednesday.
Hidden among a shipment of 27 tons of mangos, the military found approximately 550 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, opium, marijuana, cocaine, and heroine—valued by la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) at roughly $11 million USD.
According to a Sedena press release reported on by local news source Excelsior, soldiers detected the contraband cargo by x-raying the truck and its contents—carbon paper and plastic mango shippers full of the fruit. The seizure took place a the “Querobabi” Strategic Military Post in Opodepe, Sonora, along a stretch of Federal Highway Mexico 15 between Hermosillo and Santa Anna.
In total, the shipment included more than 380 pounds of methamphetamine, 95 pounds of cocaine, 9 pounds of heroin, 50 pounds of opium gum, and nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl.
Soldiers arrested the driver of the trailer who is currently in the custody of Mexico’s Agente del Ministerio Público Federal who are pursuing ongoing investigations.
For more on the bitter fruit buried beneath our sweet produce industry’s exterior, keep reading AndNowUKnow.