This drug seizure is bananas.
Two sergeants from a Texas prison were picking up two donated pallets of bananas at the Ports of America in Freeport on Friday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The bananas were being donated to the Wayne Scott Unit in Texas' Brazoria County. The department says they were already ripe — and according to USA Today, they were never claimed at the port.
But the 45 boxes of bananas also concealed a secret.
"One of the boxes felt different than the others," the TDCJ said. A sergeant freed the box from a strap and opened it.
"Inside, under a bundle of bananas, he found another bundle!" TDCJ said. "Inside that? What appeared to be a white powdery substance."
They alerted U.S. customs officials, who tested the powder and found it was cocaine. That set off a search of the whole shipment of bananas.
And the results were staggering: According to TDCJ, the officials found 540 packages of cocaine. They say the street value of the drugs is nearly $18 million.
Photos released by the department show stacks of neat small boxes, apparently filled with narcotics.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are investigating the find.
Authorities have not released where the shipment came from or who the intended recipient was.
"Sometimes, life gives you lemons. Sometimes, it gives you bananas," TDCJ writes. "And sometimes, it gives you something you'd never expect!"
In fact, cocaine concealed in banana boxes appears to be a surprisingly common occurrence. Here are just a few recent incidents:
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