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Nearly 10 tons of concentrated liquid meth was found inside almost 12,000 tequila bottles by the Mexican Navy on Sunday.
The seizure, which took place at the Pacific coast seaport of Manzanillo, involved 11,520 tequila bottles packed inside nearly 1,000 cardboard boxes.
The boxes were located inside a container using a chemical identification system and a pair of canines trained to locate drugs, according to a press release by the Mexican Secretary of the Navy.
Mexico finds tons of liquid meth in tequila bottles at port https://t.co/eOqb6ic7jn
— News19 WLTX (@WLTX) April 24, 2023
Associated Press reports, “Photos of the seizure show a sniffer dog alerting inspectors to cardboard boxes of glass bottles full of a brownish liquid, consistent with the color of ‘añejo’ or aged tequila. The labels on the bottles were not visible.
“Mexico is the world’s only producer of authentic tequila. While there have not been any reported instances of such bottles reaching consumers, ingesting the mixture would be immensely dangerous.”
The samples were then taken to the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Secretary of the Navy for analysis where the liquid was confirmed “positive” for methamphetamine.
The Mexican Navy reports that it has seized and destroyed approximately 114.3 tons of methamphetamine this year alone.
Smugglers transport meth in its liquid form to to specialized facilities where the water is extracted and the drug is returned to its normal crystalized form.
In addition to this attempt to smuggle meth using tequila bottles, liquid meth is often found hidden in smuggler’s windshield washer fluid or other containers in their cars when they are stopped at the border.
Last October, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Los Angeles Field Division announced its largest seizure of methamphetamine ever – approximately 3,552 pounds worth approximately $33 million.
In September, Australian Border Force (ABF) and NSW Police officers seized more than 3,968 pounds of crystal meth worth $1.1 billion in largest “ice” bust in Australian history.
In August, Australian Border Force (ABF) agents seized $107 million worth of crystal meth hidden inside a vintage 1960 Bentley.
And in April of 2022, over $35 million worth of meth was found hidden inside strawberry purée and seized at the Mexican border.