Cocaine, heroin found in Peru onion shipment

VIDALIA - State and federal agents were trying to track down the senders of $9.3 million in cocaine and heroin found in a shipment of onions from Peru. <br> <br> Processing plant workers at R.T. Stanley Farms in Vidalia found two travel bags in a tractor-trailer load of onions Friday and called police because they were afraid the bags contained explosives. <br> <br> Police found 29 kilos of cocaine and eight kilos of heroin inside the bags, said Toombs County Sheriff Alvie Kight Jr. The heroin seizure is believed to be the largest ever in Georgia, state agents said. <br> <br> Vidalia, in rural southeast Georgia, is known for its famous sweet Vidalia onions. But in the off-season, Vidalia onion growers process imported onions for commercial sale. <br> <br> No arrests have been made in the case, and officials said it was unclear who was the intended receiver. The drugs were turned over to the U.S. Customs Service. <br> <br> Smuggling drugs into the country in agriculture shipments is a common practice, said Jeff Evans, assistant special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation regional drug enforcement office in Savannah. <br> <br> The onions were loaded onto the trailer box in Peru and a truck picked up the trailer at the Charleston, S.C., where authorities believe the bags were meant to be picked up. Such shipments are kept locked and opened only for customs inspections. <br> <br> Police immediately found the cocaine in the bags; officers used X-ray machines to discover the heroin at the bottom of two car batteries. More heroin was found sewn into the lining of bicycle shorts in the bags. <br> <br> Heroin distribution is virtually unheard of in rural Georgia, authorities said. They believe the drugs were intended for another destination. <br> <br> ``The drugs weren&#39;t supposed to be here,&#39;&#39; Kight said. ``Customs feels like it was supposed to be taken off at the port.&#39;&#39;

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