Last month, Squid Ink reported that during a routine inspection of a refrigerated semi truck, Department of Public Safety officers discovered 508 lbs of marijuana nestled beneath a load of big, round watermelons. Now it has come to our attention that this time it is the diminutive green bell pepper has been made a foil in a smuggler's game. In Arizona, a recent inspection of a truck one mile north of the Mexico border, revealed that inside of a shipment of green bell peppers lay a stash of 5,027 lbs of marijuana.

Did they ever consider that our fluted, bell-shaped friend – which is botanically a fruit, but confusingly enough is considered a vegetable — didn't need the bad press? Back in the wholesome '50s, it was every housewife's go-to ingredient. But now it is green bell peppers' close cousins, the sweeter, tastier and more vibrantly-colored red, yellow, purple and orange peppers, which fetch exorbitant prices at weekly farmer's markets and are considered delicacies. Add to that the humiliation that comes with “accessory to the transportation of marijuana” charges! Oh, green bell pepper, how you must long for that time of innocence when people loved nothing more than cutting off your cap, stuffing you with ground beef and rice, then topping you with bread crumbs and shredded yellow cheese.

Read more about bell peppers and pot busts in Phoenix New Times' “Bell Peppers and Pot: DPS Finds 5,000-Pound Weed Stash on Truck Near Nogales.”

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