The shipment from Peru was searched by US border officials in Ohio and found to contain around 20 kilos of cocaine-covered corn flakes worth up to €2.3 million.

The cereal was destined for a private residence in Hong Kong and represents the latest in a line of sophisticated attempts by drug traffickers to evade detection.

Officers only tested the “white powder” and “greyish substance” on the cereal after a narcotic detector dog called Bico alerted to the shipment.