This is the surreal moment when police arrest a cigarette smuggler disguised as a water hyacinth as he tries to cross a river from Paraguay to Argentina.
Gendarmes in military gear shine their torches at the ‘floating plant’ as it approached their boat under the cover of darkness.
Their suspicions about the real nature of the unexpected object before them proved correct when a close inspection revealed what was beneath the clever camouflage.
Finally, an officer hoisted the human hidden underneath aboard before handcuffing him.
They then discovered that he had placed 200 packs of ‘Rodeo King Size’ cigarettes in four black boxes under a flexible mesh covered with a mix of leaves and artificial plants and strapped to his body.
The as-yet unnamed smuggler was spotted floating down the river between Paraguay and Argentina
Finally, an officer hoisted the human hidden underneath aboard before handcuffing him
Gendarmes in military gear shine their torches at the ‘floating plant’ as it approached their boat under the cover of darkness
The unnamed tobacco smuggler, dubbed Aquaman by social media users after the half-human American comic book superhero, is expected to appear in court later today in the northern Argentine city of Resistencia.
Police discovered he had packed 200 packs of ‘Rodeo King Size’ cigarettes into four black boxes
The bizarre incident took place in the early hours of yesterday morning local time near the island of Cerrito in Argentina’s Litoral region
The 42-year-old smuggler was checked to ensure he was not suffering from hypothermia or other health problems before being taken to a police station for questioning before appearing in court.
It is believed that the wetsuit he was wearing kept his body temperature higher than it normally would have been.
The bizarre incident took place in the early hours of yesterday morning local time near the island of Cerrito in Argentina’s Litoral region, where the Paraguay and Parana rivers meet.
The arrested man had reportedly been trying to grab the picture-postcard island from Paraguay when he was intercepted by agents of the Argentine Navy Prefecture.
A source told the local press: ‘No one had ever seen such a plant floating so quickly on top of the waterline and that prompted them to investigate further.’
The unnamed tobacco smuggler, dubbed Aquaman by social media users after the half-human American comic book hero, is expected to appear in court later today in the northern Argentine city of Resistencia.