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Complete breakfast? Cocaine-frosted cereal seized in Ohio

Customs agents discover $2.8M in corn flakes covered in cocaine instead of sugar

More than 44 pounds of cocaine-soaked cereal was seized in a shipment from Peru at the Port of Cincinnati on Feb. 13. (Photo: CBP)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents recently seized a shipment of cereal from South America that they said was covered in cocaine instead of sugar.

CBP officers reportedly intercepted the cocaine in a shipment of cereal originating from Peru on Feb. 13 at the Port of Cincinnati.

CBP narcotic K-9 Bico was working incoming freight from Peru when he was alerted to a large shipment of cereal headed to a private residence in Hong Kong, investigators said.

CBP narcotic K-9 Bico alerted agents to the cocaine in the cereal. (Photo: CBP)

Officers reportedly tested the shipment and found it contained about 44 pounds of cocaine-coated corn flakes, with a street value of up to $2.8 million.


Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie said that smugglers will hide narcotics in anything. 

“The men and women at the Port of Cincinnati continue to use their training, intuition and strategic skills to prevent these kinds of illegitimate shipments from reaching the public,” Gillespie said in a release

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Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact nmahoney@freightwaves.com