Canned goods confiscated at airport contained coke, not food

JAMAICA, N.Y. (WTXF) - They're not your average canned goods. They're worth more than $100,000 but that's because what's inside turned out to be illegal.

The feds say they made that discovery last Wednesday, Jan. 25, at New York's Kennedy Airport.

A flight was arriving from Guayaquil, Ecuador. On it was passenger Jaime Macias.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped him for an inspection and found "three cans labeled as tuna and three cans labeled as corn in his checked suitcase."

Officers escorted Macias, a United States citizen, to a private search room.

That's where they say "the six cans labeled as food were probed and tested positive for cocaine."

Macias was arrested for the import of a controlled substance and now faces federal narcotics smuggling charges.

Authorities say the total weight of cocaine seized was about 7 lbs. with an estimated street value of $127,000.