U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers confiscated 12.2 kilograms (27 pounds) of cocaine concealed within a hidden compartment in a motorized wheelchair at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston.
The estimated street value of the drugs is thought to exceed $1 million, a CBP spokesperson told Newsweek.
In late September, officers referred the wheelchair for an X-ray examination due to the "unusually large cushions" attached to the frame, the CBP said in a statement on Wednesday. Further inspection revealed a metal compartment with 11 packages containing a massive haul of cocaine concealed within the backrest and seat cushions.
CBP officers also noticed that the metal compartment wasn't produced in a factory and was inconsistent with the seat frame.
K9s deployed by officers helped detect the cocaine stashed inside the wheelchair.
Lab tests then confirmed the packages contained cocaine hydrochloride.
Rusty Payne, a CBP spokesperson, told Newsweek: "If you can think of a drug smuggling method, it's been done. We've seen drug seizures in things like wheelchairs but wouldn't say it's a common occurrence.
"Street value is hard to nail down because there are so many factors such as geography, trafficking amounts, retail vs. wholesale, etc., but this amount could fetch over $1 million."
Homeland Security Investigations has launched a criminal probe, and inquiries remain ongoing following the drug bust.
The seizures are part of ongoing CBP operations to intercept and prevent the trafficking of illicit drugs into the country.
"CBP remains diligent in our efforts to protect our borders and keep Americans safe," CBP acting Area Port Director Kayla Gonzales said in the statement. "Cocaine is a deadly, dangerous drug, and the trafficking of these poisons leads to increased violence, money laundering, and other criminal activity that threatens our safety and local communities.
According to the National Library of Medicine, cocaine hydrochloride is the hydrochloride salt form of the tropane alkaloid cocaine.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are reporting an uptick in seizures and overdose cases involving cocaine laced with fentanyl.
It comes as the U.S. faces an ongoing overdose crisis, raising concerns about the increased risk to public health.
In a separate recent case, border agents found almost $4 million worth of cocaine stashed inside a bus in California.
On September 12, CBP officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry discovered 187 pounds of illicit narcotics stashed within the rear cargo area of a commercial passenger bus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2023.
Over 60,000 pounds of cocaine have been seized by agents nationwide in fiscal 2024, according to CBP data.
Law enforcement officials at the U.S.-Mexico border seized 26,757 pounds of cocaine overall in the Southwest border in the 2023-2024 fiscal year as of August 2024.