A truck filled with cucumbers turned out to have a much more insidious load onboard: $3.5 million in fentanyl and $1.1 million in methamphetamine.
Border patrol agents announced the drug bust on Thursday, which was made with the help of a drug-sniffing dog, NBC News reports. Smugglers had hidden 254 pounds of fentanyl under the floorboard of a truck at the border's port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, along with 395 pounds of methamphetamine.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The illegal drug trade has been a major talking point in President Trump's quest for a southern border wall. Conservatives quickly seized on the discovery, with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) using it to declare "there is a crisis on our border." Still, Drug Enforcement Agency records show a wall wouldn't curb the drug flow. A "majority of the flow" of drugs over the U.S.-Mexico border happens at legal ports of entry, and only "a small percentage" is seized during illegal crossings, the DEA said in its 2018 threat assessment.
-
Why is Trump suddenly interested in his enemies' mortgages?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the president continues targeting adversaries, he's turned to a surprising ally to provide ammunition for an emerging line of attack
-
'A symbol of the faceless corporate desire'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Say farewell to summer at these underrated US lakesThe Week Recommends Have one last blast
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
