Drug running is a risky game of cat and mouse that never seems to end due to the allure of getting rich quick. But like most get-rich-quick schemes, the consequences aren't pleasant.
One smuggler making his way into the US found this out the hard way when he was stopped by authorities while crossing the Hidalgo International Bridge heading North from Mexico.
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Upon inspection of the Ford F-150 that the suspect was driving, authorities found a whole heap of drugs sneakily stashed away in the tyres of the truck. And by a whole heap, we mean a lot.
14 packages of black tar heroin were found, weighing a total of 54kg, alongside nine packages of methamphetamine, tipping the scales at 23kg. All this adds up to a street value of a touch over $7 million.
Unsurprisingly, the smuggler was arrested on the spot, and his truck was seized by police. What is surprising though, is how 70kg worth of drugs was secured inside the tyres of a moving vehicle.
Anyone who has ever dealt with missing wheel weights and unbalanced tyres would understand the importance of a good set of balanced wheels.
Interestingly, this is quite a popular method of moving drugs around over in Texas, and back in 2018, another truck was stopped with around $10 million worth of narcotics stashed in its tyres.
“This was definitely a significant interception of hard narcotics that our frontline officers accomplished this weekend,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Port of Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas. “Keeping drugs out of our communities is a top priority for CBP Field Operations.”