Agents open ‘birthday gift’ in Mario wrapping paper and find a lot of meth, feds say

More than 100 packages of meth were found wrapped like a birthday gift in a smuggling attempt, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents in California on Thursday arrested a 34-year-old man who is accused of trying to smuggle 119 packages of meth inside gift-wrapped packages, CBP said in a Friday news release.

At about 3:50 p.m., a Border Patrol agent and his K-9 stopped the man’s car and conducted “an immigration interview” when the canine sniffed the 2003 Brown Toyota Tundra.

“The agent subsequently searched the vehicle and found two large gift-wrapped presents and a large plastic tote containing a total 119 cellophane wrapped packages,” CBP said. “The man, the packages and the vehicle were all transported to the Calexico Border Patrol Station for further processing.”

The gifts contained about 135 pounds of meth with an estimated value of $303,750, according to CBP.

Photos show one box was wrapped in paper featuring Nintendo’s Mario and Yoshi characters. The other had “Happy Birthday” wrapping paper and a bow on it.

This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Agents open ‘birthday gift’ in Mario wrapping paper and find a lot of meth, feds say."