Photos of drugs strapped to bodies were released by border officials in New York, who say they have seen people try almost everything - including cocaine nappies (bottom left). But the haul is only the latest in a long history of bizarre drug busts which include the UK and China. Vessels for narcotics in the past have included garden hoses, surfboards (top left), Champagne bottles (top right), wardrobes (bottom right), avocados, and even a live dog. Anthony Bucci, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in New York and New Jersey, said: 'One person we caught at JFK had inserted narcotics anally, vaginally and swallowed pellets'
When it comes to avoiding the beady eyes of border officers, you can't say they didn't try.
These are the bizarre methods used by the world's drug smugglers to stow away their hauls - but all of them were caught before they could cross the border.
The cleverest failed missions have included cocaine bras, wigs and nappies, cannabis garden hoses and heroin thigh bandages.
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Happy nappy: Customs officials at New York's airports have released some of the most bizarre ways in which people have tried to slip drugs past them - including these taped-up underpants stuffed with cocaine
Too much junk in the trunk: After the nappies were emptied on the floor, it was pretty clear what they contained
Headrush: One failed smuggler tried to hide a skull-shaped packet of cocaine (bottom) under a black wig (top)
What a boob! Customs officials seized this cocaine bra in New York. Spokesman Anthony Bucci said he had seen everything: 'One person we caught at JFK had inserted narcotics anally, vaginally and swallowed pellets'
Some of the most unusual have been released by customs officers working in two busy airports on the U.S. east coast.
They reveal the desperate and inspired lengths smugglers will go to in their attempts to pass muster at New York's JFK Airport and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey.
Anthony Bucci, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection for New York and New Jersey, admitted he has seen so many odd attempted concealment methods he is rarely surprised.
'Some of the more interesting concealment methods include narcotics concealed in prosthetic limbs, wheels on luggage made of heroin and cocaine and heroin secreted into book covers,' he said.
'One person we caught at JFK had inserted narcotics anally, vaginally and swallowed pellets.
Full of beans: Thousands of dollars worth of cocaine were found hidden inside these cans of black beans
Meaty haul: One smuggler fitted packages of cocaine into cylinders of goat meat before freezing them solid
That pepper's got a kick: One tourist tried to sneak marijuana into these souvenir jars coming in to New York
'We even intercepted a dog years ago that had narcotics sewn under his skin.
'I have been with the CBP approximately four-and-a-half years. The longer I am here the less surprised I am by the attempted concealment methods.'
But the phenomenon has never been confined just to New York - as our collection of photos over the years from around the globe shows.
The world's drug dealers have tried to smuggle cocaine in an avocado, a can of Stella Artois and a champagne couple.
One British pair surgically implanted drugs into their pet Labrador on the way home from Colombia.
Caught with their pants down: Meanwhile in China, these trousers (left) almost helped a drug trafficker, 64, get 5kg of cocaine through Macau. Right: A man in China had 1.03kg of heroin hidden inside bandages on his legs
That's got to hurt: The unusual drug hauls were not limited to the U.S. - they happen all over the world. This photo shows a taped-up drug packet which UK officials said was stowed inside a smuggler's 'body cavity'
Junk... but not in the trunk: Heroin packages hidden in the gear mechanism of a car on the U.S./Mexico border
Road trip: Customs officers on the U.S./Mexico border also found drugs under the seat of a motorcycle
Keen gardener: This hose reel found on the U.S./Mexico border contained several packages of marijuana
In China, a 64-year-old smuggler tried to sneak 5kg of cocaine into the vice capital Macau by secreting more than 100 tiny packages of the drug into little pockets in his trousers.
And the border between the U.S. and Mexico is where officials see some of the most brazen attempts to bring drugs into the country.
The lure of profit from drug smuggling has seen substances concealed in items including a baby's stroller, a lawn mower, a garden hose and concrete garden furniture.
In June 2009, a 30-year-old Mexican man was even arrested trying to smuggle more than 10kg of marijuana ashore on a surfboard.
Beach bummed out: A surfer tried to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. inside their board, but to no avail
That's a lot of munchies: Cannabis traffickers filled up furniture with more than five tonnes of the drug worth £12million which they tried to smuggle through a port on the east cost of England in 2005
Narnia's this way: This wardrobe seized by British police was more enchanted than most (left). Right: Drug parcels swallowed by a drug mule show up on an X-ray commissioned by customs officers
Nothing is sacred: Two pet owners were sentenced in 2004 for surgically implanting cocaine into their Labrador Rex and trying to take him from Colombia to Britain through Stansted Airport, Essex
Ruff treatment: The drugs which vets managed to extract from inside the body of Rex the Labrador
Nowhere to hide: One smuggler coming to Britain managed to hide drugs behind their car numberplate
Reassuringly expensive: Beer cans have long been used as hiding places, such as in this British file image
Wacky guacamole: A more unusual place for cocaine was this avocado in a photo released 14 years ago
Don't pop the corks yet! A smuggler famously compressed drugs into a champagne bottle in 1997
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