Customs officers at New York�s Kennedy International Airport seized $450,000 worth of cocaine from a traveler who was smuggling the drugs in the wheels of her wheelchair, federal authorities announced.

The bust happened Nov. 10 when Customs and Border Patrol officers stopped a woman traveling from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with a wheelchair whose wheels weren�t turning, agency officials said.

The officers X-rayed the wheelchair and noticed an �anomaly� in all four wheels, CPB officials said in a news release. Officers checked the tires and found a white powder that tested positive for cocaine, they said.

A total of 28 pounds (12.7 kilos) of cocaine with a street value of $450,000 was removed from the wheels, officials said.

The woman, a Dominican citizen named Emelinda Paulino De Rivas, was arrested on smuggling charges and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. It wasn�t clear if she had an attorney who could comment.

�CBP stands steadfast and determined in working with our partners to identify the trans-national criminal networks responsible for importing these deadly drugs into our neighborhoods.� Francis J. Russo, Director of CBP�s New York field operations, said. �CBP�s mission is to guard the borders and ports of entry 24/7, 365 days a year to prevent these dangerous drugs from potentially killing our family, friends, and neighbors.�

(AP)