MEMPHIS – On February 17, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at an express delivery center in Memphis, Tennessee examined a package described in documents as a high school cookbook. The package contained a hardcover book titled “The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.” However, CBPOs found many of the 500 prescriptions and 32 color photographs missing, cut to make room for a rectangular package of cocaine weighing 147.6 grams.
The shipment was sent from Trinidad and Tobago to an address in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of New York City.
US importers provide advance information about container loads, express shipments and some international mail packages destined for the United States. CBP uses this data to target and intercept high-risk shipments.
CBP personnel are trained to identify patterns and red flags that enable them to intercept shipments that may contain illegal and potentially dangerous goods.
“How the receiver intended to cook his traditional callow, with all the cheeks cut off and replaced with cocaine,” said the area’s port director, Michael Neipert. “Smugglers continue to hide narcotics and other contraband in a myriad of ways, which my officers consistently catch every shift.”
This seizure occurred within the Memphis Port Area, which covers ports of entry throughout the state of Tennessee and falls under CBP’s New Orleans Field Office. This field office includes all ports in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.
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