Cartels Smuggle Meth in Tequila Bottles

Drug cartels may be guilty of many things (including corruption, drug trafficking and murder)—but no one can accuse them of a lack of innovation. Californian police have recently picked up on a new trend: cartels are manufacturing liquid forms of drugs, and sending them to the US and Canada disguised as shipments of booze. During a bust on one of the state’s most popular trafficking routes yesterday, police discovered 15 Mexican-brand tequila bottles that were filled with 56 pounds of liquid meth—with an estimated value of more than half a million dollars. "This is a new trend of transportation from Mexico to the States," says Matt Radke, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. "At this level of amount, it is going to be distributed all over the place. Once it gets to the final form, the powdered form, it's going to be disseminated throughout the country.” The vehicle’s two passengers started their trip in Southern California and told officers that they were headed to Oregon. They are charged with federal drug trafficking and attempting to traffic across state lines.