Mexico seizes $11.5 mn hidden in strawberry truck

Mexican authorities seized $11.5 million in cash hidden in a truck carrying strawberries at a customs checkpoint near the US border, officials said Tuesday.

The stash was concealed in 306 packages wrapped with black and found Sunday in San Emeterio, Sonora state, after a gamma-ray scanner found “a variation” in the cargo, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The seizure was conducted by the army and border agents at the customs checkpoint south of the Arizona city of Lukeville. Some 600 bullets of various caliber were also found in the truck.

The statement did not say whether the truck was coming or going to the United States. The driver was handed over to prosecutors.

Drug cartels regularly ship weapons and cash from their drug proceeds into Mexico from the United States.