© Motor1.com Ford Tire Packed With Meth

A dealer and a dealership are not the same thing.

Criminals have no shortage of finding creative ways to smuggle drugs. The possibilities are endless, keeping law enforcement personnel on their toes. However, one shipment of illegal methamphetamine from Mexico went awry when they ended up at the wrong dealer. Instead of in the hands of drug dealers, the drugs landed at 13 Ford dealerships across eastern Canada, the result of a costly logistical mistake made by the smugglers. Oops.

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According to the news release from Ontario Provincial Police, employees at four dealerships, tasked with inspecting the newly arrived vehicles, discovered non-spec spare tires in several of the Ford Fusion sedans. Upon closer inspection, the employees found the tires packed with packages of meth who then called the authorities. Police contacted Ford who provided shipping information for the vehicles.

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Nine of 14 vehicles searched at the 13 Ford dealerships contained meth. Six vehicles on a second rail car from the same shipment in Mexico were also found to contain meth. The police were then able to stop a similar shipment of cars as it entered Canada. Nearly 400 pounds (180 kilograms) were discovered packed into the cars, which the police estimated had a street value of $4.5 million.

It appears Ford and the rail company were exploited by “ a well-established, organized crime group,” according to police, pointing to the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. Subsequent inspections of vehicles from the Hermosillo, Mexico factory have yielded no drugs. It appears to police the criminals have abandoned tire packing and vehicle shipments to distribute and smuggle drugs.

Drug smuggling is a vast, multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise that’s a modern-day Hydra. No matter how many smuggling lanes police close, smugglers will find new ways to transport drugs. While the cartel is no longer shipping them packed in the spare tires of Ford Fusions, there’s little doubt the drugs are still flowing across borders.

Source: Ontario Provincial Police

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