SUMAS, Wash. – Drug runners will go to great lengths to hide a load of contraband.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Sumas port of entry seized 1,746 lbs of high grade marijuana concealed within the manure-crusted floors of a cattle trailer on Feb. 17, and subsequently arrested a Langley, B. C. man. (See cover for photo).

The truck driver had arrived at the port with a load of beef cattle destined for Stanwood, Wash., when he was selected for an “intensive inspection,” according to the CBP. The cattle were off-loaded and the trailer was examined, using a gamma X-ray imaging device, which discovered “inconsistencies” in the lower and upper decks of the trailer.

When entering the trailer, CBP officers state that they noticed a space discrepancy in the interior, indicating the possibility of a built-up compartment in the floor. The CBP officers then scraped off the “natural by-product” left by the cows, and unbolted false panels which concealed hundreds of plastic bags of marijuana beneath. It was a stinky investigation, according to the CBP

“We will continue to be vigilant in our mission of protecting the homeland from terrorists and the criminal elements that would harm our society,” said area port director Pat Hinchey. “And while it is not every day we discover drugs hidden under cow flop, it does have its own unique sweet smell of success.”

Eventually all the marijuana was packaged into 69 large boxes which had to be placed back into the cow trailer for transportation to a secured repository vault. The cattle were sent back to the rancher that hired the livestock hauler, or what the CBP calls a “direct export.”