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Nearly 4 Tons Of Marijuana Found Mixed In With Shipment Of Jalapeño Peppers

SAN DIEGO (CBSLA) — A shipment of jalapeño peppers being driven over the Mexico border had a little something extra mixed in – almost four tons of marijuana.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers say a Mexican citizen driving a tractor trailer into the Otay Mesa port of entry claimed his trailer was full of jalapeños. Drug-sniffing dogs detected the extra spice in the peppers.

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(credit: CBS)

Officers found 314 large, wrapped packages of marijuana mixed in with the shipment of jalapeño peppers, an amount that weighed 7,560 pounds. The nearly four tons of marijuana are worth $2.3 million, according to Customs and Border Patrol.

Thursday's discovery was the second big bust at the Otay Mesa port of entry in a week. Just two days prior, officers seized 10,642 pounds of marijuana hidden in plastic auto parts.

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