Smuggler's Cheesy Ploy Foiled

Drug smugglers continue to innovate, but not always so successfully, according to the Border Patrol.

Nearly 12 pounds of heroin was being smuggled inside two large blocks of cheese that it had been dissolved in, officials said.

The bust began Sunday morning in San Clemente, Calif., on Interstate 5 north near Cristianos Road. An agent stopped a Mazda sedan and later took its 46-year-old Mexican national driver into custody after determining he had bogus travel documents.

A drug-sniffing dog raised suspicions on the vehicle but searches -- X-ray and otherwise -- turned up empty.

Eventually, agents tested the cheese for narcotics and made the discovery.

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