Mexican cartels are camouflaging their drug shipments to the United States as fruit and vegetables in the hope of fooling federal officers inspecting Mexican trucks at border bridges into the United States.

The latest known use of this "fake fruit" scheme was discovered Friday at the Otay Mesa crossing into San Diego, California.

Can you spot the "fake watermelons" hidden within this large fruit shipment arriving at the border from Mexico? U.S. Federal Officers did!Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

Within a huge semi-truckload of real watermelons, U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Officers found almost 5,000 pounds of "fake watermelons" which were actually 1,220 large bundles of methamphetamines shaped like melons and wrapped in colored paper to blend in with the fruit shipment.

This fake melon tested positive for meth - part of a 4,587-pound drug shipment disguised as fruit by a Mexican cartel.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

CBP officers say the estimated street value of the seized drugs exceeds $5 million dollars.

Can you spot the drugs disguised as key limes within this fruit shipment that arrived in Texas from Mexico?Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

The cartels have been using this ploy for years.

In 2017, CBP Officers in Pharr, Texas discovered small bundles of marijuana (more than 34,000 of them) wrapped in green paper mixed in with a real shipment of key limes.

After officers sorted the fake fruit from the real thing this seizure weighed in at 3,947.37 pounds of marijuana worth more than $749,000.

Close-up of a small bundle of marijuana shaped like a lime and wrapped in green paper in the hope of fooling U.S. officers at the border.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

The fact that Mexican cartel smugglers have been using this trick to try and sneak large shipments of drugs into the U.S. for years indicates this ruse likely works more times than federal officers discover it.

Sometimes the smugglers don't bother to disguise their drugs as fruit or veggies - just wrapping them in paper the same color as the food shipment - and mixing them in along with several thousand pounds of the real thing - and hoping the load of dope isn't discovered.

Meth bundles in green wrappers mixed in with a shipment of lettuce arriving in Pharr, Texas from Mexico (August 1, 2024).Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

That was the case earlier this month (in Pharr, Texas once again) when CBP Officers discovered 3,429 pounds of meth in bundles with green wrappers hidden in a semi-truckload of lettuce arriving from Mexico. This $48 million dollar seizure set a new record at the Pharr International Bridge.

Other times the smugglers don't even try to disguise their drug loads - by surrounding them with thousands of pounds of fruits or vegetables - and hoping U.S. officers don't inspect their shipment too closely.

One of 50 packages of meth hidden within a truckload of tomatillos discovered by U.S. Officers in Otay Mesa, California (August 4, 2024).Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

Earlier this month CBP Officers discovered 50 packages of meth weighing in at 378 pounds with an estimated street value of $453,600 buried within a shipment of fresh tomatillos arriving at the Otay Mesa border crossing from Tijuana.

One of 508 packages of meth discovered in a celery shipment arriving at the Otay Mesa border crossing from Tijuana, Mexico (Aug. 9, 2024).Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

Just a few days after that discovery, another large load of meth arrived at the Otay Mesa crossing, packaged in 508 bundles mixed in with a celery shipment. This drug load weighed in at almost 630 pounds with an estimated street value of $755,000.

629.72 pound load of meth separated from the shipment of celery meant to conceal it from U.S. Federal Officers.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

In all of these cases, the driver faces arrest on federal drug-smuggling charges and his truck and tractor-trailer are seized by the CBP.

Do you believe the border with Mexico is secure?

Share your opinion in the comments on this article!

For more stories like this "Follow Me" on the Newsbreak App and "Like" this article to stay up to date on immigration and border security issues regularly covered by Jack Beavers on Newsbreak like these:

• Migrant Terror Arrests at Southern Border
• Mexican Cartel's Brazen "Texas Operation"
• Migrants Bring Ladders & Wirecutters to Border Barriers

You Can Make Money Writing For Newsbreak! APPLY HERE