Customs officials at Washington Dulles International Airport found more than two pounds of cocaine hidden in jars filled with stew.
Authorities said a Guatemalan passenger had his packages inspected after his arrival on a flight from El Salvador on Saturday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials discovered two jars that seemed too heavy to be stew.
Officials found that the jars had double walls, containing stew and a plastic bag filled with cocaine secreted between the inner shell of each jar and its stainless steel lining.
The passenger, who was a courier on business, was not criminally charged, but he was held after he expressed fear of returning to Guatemala. He is scheduled for an interview with an asylum officer. If authorities determine that his claim is not credible he will be removed from the United States and barred from returning for at least five years.
