feCustoms Officials In Miami Keep Finding Cocaine, Heroin Hidden In Flower Shipments

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(Renee Rendler-Kaplan)

Stopping to smell the roses takes on a whole new meaning down in Miami, where federal officials say they’ve found several shipments of flowers going through the airport with cocaine and heroin hidden in them.

Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection say 80 pounds of the drugs have been found in floral shipments in the last two years, reports the Associated Press, with most of those coming from Colombia and Ecuador.

Sometimes the drugs are hidden in the flowers themselves — posing a health hazard to any unsuspecting person who might be tempted to take a sniff — as well as in the boxes containing the flowers.

Miami is a hotspot for flowers coming into the U.S., with inspectors trying to make sure foreign bugs and pests don’t hitch a ride into the country.

The border protection agency says it’s working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to investigate the drug trafficking organizations responsible for flower drug smuggling operation.

Don’t smell the flowers: Cocaine, heroin found hidden in floral shipments at Miami airport

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist