LONDON (Reuters) – A monkey loaded with cannabis, 700 boxes of papier-mache avocados stuffed with cocaine, swallowing 117 drug-filled condoms — these are just a few tricks of the smuggling trade. British Customs and Excise officials Tuesday disclosed some quirky smuggling ruses which include stowing ecstasy and amphetamines in the arms of a giant digger and hiding half a kilo of cocaine beneath an afro-style wig.
A hollowed-out primate has been dubbed the “devil monkey” because it weighed 14.5 lbs. and was used to carry 666 grams of herbal cannabis, according to David Knott, a spokesman for Customs and Excise in the south east of England.
Knott said its owner, a Rastafarian carpenter from Ghana, is believed to have put a curse on the animal after his arrest and several officials have since complained of injuries.
“It’s been a bit bizarre,” Knott said. “It fell off the table on to someone’s foot and there have been some quite sharp splinters.
“It then degenerated into sort of folklore. Anything that went wrong, the monkey got the blame.”
