Otay Mesa, Calif. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa cargo facility arrested a man after they discovered almost 310 pounds of marijuana comingled with a shipment of carrots.

	click for hi-res A package of marijuana comingled in a carrot shipment.

Wednesday evening, January 9, at about 7 p.m., the 29-year-old U.S. citizen, driving a 2005 bobtail truck entered the cargo port with a shipment manifested as carrots. CBP officers were roving through the lanes of trucks waiting to cross into the United States when an officer became suspicious of the conveyance and pulled the truck and driver aside for a more in-depth inspection.

During their inspection, CBP officers probed a box and discovered marijuana. Officers removed 42 packages of marijuana hidden in boxes of carrots. The marijuana has an estimated street value of almost $500,000.

click for hi-res 42 packages of marijuana were extracted from boxes of carrots.

The driver, a resident of Maywood, Calif., was arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending federal arraignment for the attempted illegal importation of narcotics.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.