CBP seized over $4 million worth of cocaine hidden in decorative rocks in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO – US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials staged a major drug operation after discovering more than $4 million worth of cocaine hidden in a shipment of decorative stones.

On January 11, officers assigned to the Tecate cargo complex in San Diego encountered a 36-year-old driver of a tractor-trailer truck with cargo disguised as rocks.

While inspecting the truck, CBP officers unloaded one of the goods and found an “anomaly” on one of the rocks. The K-9 team checked the cargo and received a positive signal from the detector dog.

Fifty-seven cellophane-wrapped bags of cocaine were found, according to the agency on Wednesday. The packages were hidden in a plaster-like material that looked like rocks.

CBP officers recovered about 256 pounds of cocaine, worth about $4.1 million.

“You can see from the huge efforts to cover up these drugs that our officers are effective at their job,” said Jennifer De La O, director of CBP field operations in San Diego. “The men and women of CBP are working tirelessly together to stop the negative impact of drugs on society.”

CBP officers seized drugs, a tractor and a trailer.

The driver, a Mexican national, was detained and handed over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and National Security Investigation (HSI) for further investigation.

In October and November last year, border guards seized almost 500 pounds of cocaine at US checkpoints.

CONNECTED: CBP officers seized $35.2 million worth of methamphetamine from a truck carrying strawberry puree.

Last year, CBP seized more than $35 million worth of methamphetamine in a tractor-trailer carrying strawberry puree, according to the agency’s April 22 report.