Authorities say they've cracked the case -- and eggs -- of an alleged drug smuggling operation.
Esteban Galtes, 23, was taken into custody Thursday night at LAX. Authorities said he was arrested after U.S. Customs and Border Protection found more than 14 pound of cocaine -- some of it in pastel, egg-shaped candy -- in his luggage.
More cocaine was found under the cardboard bottom of a paper shopping bag.
Agents said the cocaine has an estimated street value of more than $100,000.
Authorities said Galtes told them the eggs were for his two children.
"Drug traffickers are always trying novel ways to conceal their contraband," said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Los Angeles. "But cocaine camouflaged as Easter candy is one of the more unusual tactics we’ve come across. Obviously two days before Christmas, this defendant didn’t expect his trip would end with federal officers conducting an Easter egg hunt."
Galtes, of Miami, was expected to appear Monday in federal court. He is charged with importation of a controlled substance.
Galtes was returning from a one-week trip top Colombia, according to authorities.
