Customs officers find 5,500-pound pot stash

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

5:02 p.m. June 13, 2008

OTAY MESA – Packages of marijuana valued at more than $2.2 million were found in boxes of jalapeño peppers in a tractor-trailer seized Thursday night at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Vince Bond.

Customs officers found 805 wrapped packages of marijuana weighing more than 5,500 pounds hidden in numerous boxes of peppers, Bond said Friday. The truck also had boxes of cucumbers, jicama and husk tomatoes.

After the truck entered the United States from Mexico about 5:40 p.m., officers ordered it to the port's gamma-ray facility, similar to an X-ray facility, for a scan. The examination indicated “a discrepancyâ€