$18 million worth of cocaine found in bananas donated to Texas prison, report says

SALT LAKE CITY— It was a donation that turned out to be absolutely bananas.

On Friday, two sergeants from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found nearly $18 million worth of cocaine while unloading two pallets containing 45 boxes of bananas, which were being donated to the Wayne Scott Unit in Brazoria County, Texas, as reported on the department’s Facebook page.

“One of the boxes felt different than the others. They snipped the straps, pulled free the box, and opened it up," the TDCJ said in a statement on its Facebook page. "Inside, under a bundle of bananas, he found another bundle! Inside that? What appeared to be a white powdery substance.”

In total, the TDCJ stated that the shipment contained “an estimated street value of $17,820,000."

View the original Facebook post below:

According to CNN, the sergeants uncovered 540 packages inside the shipment. Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection would eventually confirm that the “white powdery substance” inside the bananas was in fact cocaine.

The donation came from the Port of America in Freeport, Texas, according to USA Today.

The bananas, which were fully ripe, had been donated because they arrived at the port but were never claimed.

CNN reported that the department is unclear about where the cocaine came from, nor does it know when it entered the banana shipment.

Authorities from several departments are investigating.

In 2017, two tons of marijuana were disguised as limes in a shipment that crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, according to CNN. Those drugs were reportedly worth $789,467.