Authorities seized nearly $3 million worth of methamphetamine, hidden among a shipment of onions, during a tractor-trailer�s inspection at federal facility in San Diego, officials announced Friday.

A K-9 unit for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection alerted to the trailer�s shipment of onions on Sunday and officers found nearly 1,200 small packages of meth, the agency said Friday in a news release.

The 46-year-old driver, a Mexican national who was not named, was arrested for the alleged narcotic smuggling attempt at the Otay Mesa port-of-entry commercial vehicle facility, officials said.

The packages of meth � more than 1,336 pounds (606 kilograms) � were shaped into small globes with a white covering, the agency said, and meant to blend into the onions. The drugs are estimated to be worth $2.9 million on the street.

�This was not only a clever attempt to try and smuggle in narcotics, one I haven�t seen before, but also time consuming to wrap narcotics into these small packages, designed to look like onions,� said Sidney Aki, CBP Director of Field Operations in San Diego, in the news release. �While we have certainly seen narcotics in produce before, it�s unusual for us to see this level of detail in the concealment.�

(AP)