MEXICO CITY — Mexican Navy inspectors have intercepted 11,520 tequila bottles bound for export that actually contained nearly 10 tons of concentrated liquid meth, the navy said Monday.
The discovery was made Sunday at the Pacific coast seaport of Manzanillo, the navy said. It said the bottles contained approximately 19,000 pounds of meth.
Photos of the seizure show a sniffer dog alerting inspectors to cardboard boxes of glass bottles full of a brownish liquid, consistent with the color of “añejo” or aged tequila. The labels on the bottles were not visible.
Mexico is the world’s only producer of authentic tequila. While there have not been any reported instances of such bottles reaching consumers, ingesting the mixture would be immensely dangerous.
Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council, a trade and certification group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether anything similar had occurred before.
Mexico has become a major producer of meth, and drug smugglers frequently are stopped at the border with liquid meth in their windshield washer fluid or other containers in their cars.
The liquid meth is usually recovered by the smugglers and taken to specialized facilities where the water is extracted and then returned to its usually crystal form.
