Friday (September 21), Texas authorities revealed that they have seized $18 million worth of cocaine hidden in boxes of bananas that were gifted to a Texas prison.
It was in a Facebook post that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced that the drugs were found in two pallets of bananas. The bananas were originally donated because they were already ripe. The department explains that it was the two sergeants who picked up the boxes that found a "bundle of white powdery substance" under the fruit. Customs officials were called to the scene with authorities saying that 540 packages of cocaine were found within 45 boxes of bananas.
"Sometimes, life gives you lemons. Sometimes, it gives you bananas," the department wrote, adding, "Two sergeants of the Scott Unit arrived to pick them up and discovered something not quite right. One of the boxes felt different than the others. They snipped the straps, pulled free the box, and opened it up. Inside, under a bundle of bananas, he found another bundle! Inside that? What appeared to be a white powdery substance. They immediately notified port authorities and awaited their instruction."
An investigation is currently being conducted by federal officials and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.