A steamship from Mexico unloaded a container of napkins and detergent at the Port of Charleston in November 2000 with 171 packages holding 2,871 pounds of marijuana hidden inside boxes of powdered soap.[1] Customs inspectors found the load after spotting discrepancies in the shipping manifest, repackaged the marijuana and had an aircraft follow the container as a truck carried it to Greensboro, North Carolina.[1]

Guilford County sheriff’s deputies arrested five people there the following weekend and seized three vehicles and $80,000 alongside the drugs.[1][2] The marijuana was valued at $1.2 million.[1]