Mexican Trucker Said He Was Hauling Mattresses. What the Border Patrol Found Inside Broke a Drug-Smuggling Record.

Sometimes the simplest plans are the most effective.

Then again, sometimes they're the absolutely least effective.

A trucker crossing into California from Mexico at the Otay Mesa port of entry Thursday evening was arrested and had his truck and cargo confiscated after he pulled up hauling nearly 32,000 pounds of marijuana, U-T San Diego reported.

It wasn't concealed or anything. It was just sitting there inside the truck.

A driver who claimed he was hauling mattresses was actually carrying nearly $20 million worth of marijuana from Mexico into California. (Image via U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

The driver, a 46-year-old Mexican citizen with a valid border-crossing card, claimed he was carrying mattresses, but officers only found a few mattresses in the truck, stacked away from the truck doors.

Agents recovered 1,296 bundles of marijuana from a truck at the Otay Mesa border crossing Thursday. (Image via U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

The 1,296 bundles of marijuana recovered from the truck made Thursday's bust the largest in the history of the Otay Mesa Port of entry and the second-largest in the history of the country, NBC News noted.

The 15 tons of weed had a value of $18.96 million, law enforcement agents said.

The driver, Martin Martinez-Penaflor, confessed to knowing what he was carrying, saying he'd been offered $50,000 to take the drugs from Tijuana to Burbank, U-T San Diego reported.

Authorities deemed his unconcealed method of drug smuggling "very risky."

Martinez-Penaflor was jailed in San Diego, and his tractor trailer, bearing California license plates, was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This story has been updated.

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