U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 26 pounds of opium last weekend that they found hidden inside wooden stools being shipped to Northern California, the agency’s San Francisco office announced today.
Customs officers were examining international mail and found anomalies in two shipments of wooden rattan stools coming from Thailand.
When officers examined the stools, they found opium wrapped in plastic hidden in the support rails of the stools, according to customs officials.
About 26.5 pounds of opium were recovered in two separate shipments on Saturday and Sunday, customs officials said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley said ICE agents were pursuing investigative leads in the case.
The border patrol’s San Francisco spokesman, Ed Low, said he couldn’t disclose where the stools were being shipped, but he said the intended recipient’s address was not in the Bay Area.
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