Drug smugglers never cease to amaze authorities with their ingenuity in trafficking drugs.
This part Friday, Mexican security forces confiscated more than 630 kilograms of powder cocaine hidden inside a steamroller in the southeastern city of Ciudad del Carmen. Mexican authorities discovered 549 packets of cocaine during the seizure. Each packet weighed about 1,150 grams. It is reportedly the largest seizure this year.
Authorities stopped an 18-wheeler hauling the steamroller at a routine checkpoint on the Ciudad del Carmen-Villahermosa stretch of Federal Highway 180. While inspecting the vehicle’s paperwork, the driver appeared “extremely nervousâ€, prompting a search of the vehicle and its contents. After army and navy officials arrived, the cocaine was found inside of the steamroller using a molecular detection device.
Both the cocaine and the driver of the 18-wheeler were turned over to federal authorities for prosecution. Most of the drugs shipped across Mexican territory – much of which is destined for distribution in the U.S. – are transported over land and hidden in private automobiles or cargo trucks.
Drug related violence has seen a sharp increase in past years. Since December of 2006 when President Felipe Calderon took office and militarised the struggle against Mexican cartels, deploying tens of thousands of army soldiers and Federal Police officers nationwide, over 34,000 lives have been lost.
