LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Smugglers disguised USD5 million worth of methamphetamine as watermelons and tried to truck them across the border from Mexico, United States (US) border agents said.

More than 2,000 kilogrammes of the addictive drug were wrapped in paper packages painted to look like the juicy fruit and hidden amongst other cargo.

Border agents pulled over the produce-laden tractor-trailer at Otay Mesa in California last Friday and got in among the cargo for a closer look.

There they discovered more than 1,200 watermelons were actually bundles of the synthetic drug wrapped in coloured paper, US Customs and Border Protection said last week. The load was seized and the 29-year-old driver was handed over to Homeland Security.

Meth is a powerful stimulant that can be prescribed by doctors to treat ADHD. But it is also abused as a street drug for its invigorating rush and the feelings of invincibility it can give to users.

The drug was featured in the hit TV series Breaking Bad about a chemistry teacher who descends into a life of crime.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin