Man charged after allegedly trying to smuggle meth-soaked cow onesie on flight to Australia
An alleged would-be drug smuggler soaked a cow onesie in methamphetamine, part of a whole suitcase full of clothes he tried to sneak aboard a plane, US justice officials have said.
Raj Matharu allegedly checked in two bags at Los Angeles international airport on a flight to Sydney, Australia, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
As the cases passed through X-ray machines, customs officers became suspicious and opened them up for a closer look.
There they found more than a dozen items of clothing – including the cow onesie – that were dried stiff and covered in a white residue, the department alleged.
Tests revealed the clothes had been soaked in a meth solution and allowed to dry, with more than 1kg (2.2 pounds) of the drug concealed among the fabrics, it further alleged.
“Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit,” the US attorney Martin Estrada said.
“In the process, they are poisoning communities throughout the world.”
Matharu, 31, of Northridge, California, has been charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.