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Federal officers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) recently seized $1.8 million worth of liquid meth hidden in bottles labeled as dog shampoo. The bottles were found inside an air cargo shipment destined for Australia.
“CBP officers assigned to LAX’s Outbound Enforcement Team discovered the narcotics while conducting an enforcement exam on an outbound shipment declared as ‘Assorted Dog Shampoos,'” The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Los Angeles Field Office said in a press release. “Upon reviewing the shipment’s contents, they found 12 plastic bottles labeled as dog shampoo.”
Upon opening the bottles, the federal officers noticed a crystalized white substance inside of them. Upon further analysis, the contents of the bottles tested positive for methamphetamine. The 17.41 pounds of liquid meth that was seized would have been worth an estimated $1.8 million had it made to the streets of Australia.
“This interception highlights CBP’s critical outbound mission in detecting, intercepting and seizing potent narcotics heading out of the United States, to countries where illegally imported drugs are sold at a premium” said Cheryl M. Davies CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles.
"Looks like someone's 'pup' to no good!"
CBP LAX intercepted 17.41 lbs of liquid methamphetamine cleverly disguised as dog shampoo.
Read more here: https://t.co/SlxtU6G96t#OFOproud🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/GhGNxyVcd4— Director of Field Operations, Cheryl M. Davies (@DFOLosAngeles) April 30, 2025
“This significant seizure illustrates our officers’ vigilance, keen focus and commitment in disrupting transnational drug trafficking,” said Andrew H. Douglas, CBP LAX Area Port Director. “I’m very proud of their actions.”
Nationwide in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024), U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol seized over 174,000 pounds of methamphetamine in-bound and outbound. So far this fiscal year, that number is up to over 64,000 pounds of methamphetamine.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Atlanta Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents seized 4,000 pounds of liquid meth worth more than $36 million in a single bust. The drugs were being stored in large trash containers with several of them labeled as “acetone.”
Also, at the Eagle Pass International Bridge in Texas, CBP officers caught a 46-year-old female driving a 2000 Dodge pickup that was carrying nearly 1,149 pounds of liquid meth concealed within an external fuel tank. In Murrieta, California, CBP agents found 761 pounds of liquid meth inside the fuel tanks of a tractor-trailer. Shortly before that, at the Roma Port of Entry in Texas, officers seized more than $20 million in liquid meth that was being smuggled within a tractor-trailer hauling bottled mineral water.