$380,000 worth of cocaine smuggled inside man's electric wheelchair, say airport officials

• Cocaine was hidden inside an electric wheelchair, US Customs and Border Protection said.
• The drugs were hidden in four packages inside the seat cushions of the wheelchair.

Airport officials discovered 23 pounds of cocaine hidden inside an electric wheelchair on Tuesday, according to a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) media release.

Officials at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina discovered concealed packages of a "white powdery substance" in the motorized chair of 22-year-old Alexander Lopez-Morel, the CBP said.

Lopez-Morel, a US citizen, was flying in from the Dominican Republic, according to the CBP.

The inspection of the wheelchair found four packages hidden within the seat cushions, per the press release.

The substances were field-tested and identified as cocaine, according to the CPB.

The drugs have an estimated street value of $378,000, the CPB said.

Lopez-Morel was arrested, and, per the press release, Homeland Security Investigations special agents, Queen City's Border Enforcement Security Team, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department took the cocaine and wheelchair for further investigation.

Lope-Morel is charged with felony trafficking in cocaine.

"This seizure demonstrates the dynamic border environment in which CBP officers operate at CLT," said Barry Chastain, the local CBP port director, per the press release. "Our officers are determined to adapt and respond to these threats in an effort to stop narcotics reaching our communities."

According to the CBP's drug seizure statistics, 34,700 pounds of cocaine have been seized inside the US in the 2022 fiscal year.