Federal authorities intercepted around 44 pounds of cocaine-coated corn flakes detected by a drug-sniffing dog in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday.
CBP said the smuggled drugs could have sold on the street for more than $2.8 million had they not been discovered by the dog, Bico, during a recent inspection of incoming freight from Peru.
Bico alerted CBP officers last Saturday to a large shipment of cereal headed to a private residence in Hong Kong, the agency said in a news release.
CBP said its officers then opened one of the cereal boxes and saw the corn flakes were coated with a grayish substance and contained a white power. Both the flakes and powder subsequently tested positive for cocaine, the CBP said in a news release.
“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,” said Richard Gillespie, the port’s director.
Indeed, CBP officers in Cincinnati have previously intercepted all sorts of smuggled narcotics disguised or hidden in shipments passing through the port.
In early 2020, CBP said a canine team in Cincinnati alerted authorities to a shipment of eight religious paintings that contained more than nine pounders of methamphetamine worth around $16,720.
More recently, earlier this month CBP said its Cincinnati officers seized 433 pounds of green power cocaine packaged to appear as if the drugs were popular nutritional supplements.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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