These pictures were worth more than a thousand words.
A passenger flying into Newark Airport from Lima, Peru, was caught trying to smuggle a pound of cocaine — worth $30,000 on the streets — into the United States by hiding it in picture frames, according to spokesman Anthony Bucci.
US Customs and Border Protection officers were conducting routine searches of checked luggage Saturday when they spotted three picture frames and two paper packages.
Further inspection revealed a mound of white powder that tested positive for cocaine.
“CBP officers remain ever vigilant in protecting the United States from the distribution of these dangerous drugs, regardless of the concealment methods employed by these would-be smugglers,” said Robert Perez, director of CBP’s New York field operations.
Cops arrested Job Israel DeJesus Ortega, a Peruvian citizen, at the airport. He faces several charges related to smuggling narcotics.
