US Customs and Border Protection
- CBP agents in Cincinnati, Ohio seized 44 pounds of cocaine-coated corn flakes last week.
- The product could be worth up to $2,822,400.
- The shipment came from Peru and was on its way to a private residence in Hong Kong.
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US Customs and Border Protection agents seized 44 pounds of cocaine-coated corn flakes in Cincinnati, Ohio, the agency said in a news release titled “That’s Not Frosted Flakes.”
The shipment, which was caught on February 13, came from Peru and was on its way to a private residence in Hong Kong. It had an estimated street value of up to $2,822,400.
It was sniffed out by CBP Narcotic Detector Dog “Bico.” When officers opened the package they noticed that it had a white powder and the flakes were coated with a grayish substance. Officers tested the product and discovered it was cocaine.
Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie said smugglers will “hide narcotics in anything imaginable.”
The release added that on a typical day last year CBP confiscated 3,677 pounds of drugs at ports of entry across the nation.
Cocaine is a schedule II substance and abuse can lead to health consequences like cardiac arrest, convulsions, stroke, and death.
CBP did not reply to Insider's email request for comment at the time of publication.
This isn't the first time in recent history that food has been used to smuggle drugs. Last month, after an almost two-year investigation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police determined that shipments of bananas stuffed with cocaine ended up at grocery stores in British Columbia.
If the shipments weren't accidentally delivered to the wrong parties, they would have introduced 800,000 doses of cocaine into the drug market, Insider reported.