Three cows stuffed inside a passenger vehicle, two cases of Old Milwaukee and one of Milwaukee’s Best are among the unusual items that police officers assigned to guard the land borders of Costa Rica have confiscated in recent days. These attempted smuggled goods join a long list of peculiar items destined for the versatile and burgeoning black market in Costa Rica.

Intercepting drugs and money at the border crossing points in Penas Blancas and Paso Canoas is all in a day’s work for members of Fuerza Publica, Costa Rica’s national police force. In recent months, however, smugglers have been incorporating more mundane items into their repertoire of furtive goods.

In early April, Fuerza Publica officers on patrol in the Los Chiles canton noticed a four-wheel drive station wagon with an unusual cargo: Three calves weighing approximately 110 kilograms each. Upon closer assessment of the situation, officers determined that the bovines had been stolen from a farm in Ciudad Quesada, a major agricultural community in Costa Rica. The human occupants of the vehicles were three Nicaraguan men, who were arrested on suspicion of cattle theft with the intent of smuggling across the border. Alas, the youngest calf did not survive the cramped conditions inside the station wagon as one of the rustlers sat on top of it.

In Limoncito of Coto Brus, a small border town in southern Costa Rica, Fuerza Publica officers checking vehicle traffic arriving from Panama stopped a suspicious sedan and discovered a cache of booze, which included whiskey, vodka and cases of Old Milwaukee (fondly known as Old Swill) and Milwaukee’s Best (often called “the Beast”).

The Costa Rica Star has previously reported on the ongoing trend of cheap beer from the United States being smuggled into our country:

Why would anyone drink Milwaukee’s Best in Costa Rica? The answer can be found in the sticker price. Beer drinkers in Costa Rica can expect to pay between 1,000 to 2,000 colones ($2 to $4) for domestic brews (Imperial, Pilsen, etc.); less at liquor or grocery stores, but always more than a dollar per unit.

The seized Milwaukee’s Best was probably not destined to be sold to a bar or restaurant owner in Escazu, San Pedro or Santa Ana. Patrons at those establishments would not be caught dead drinking one of Milwaukee’s finest products. The confiscated Beasts, as they are fondly called by U.S. beer drinkers, were probably destined for a pulperia or a modest drinking establishment frequented by broke expats.

In recent days, border police officers have also intercepted clothing, groceries and even fruit juices smuggled from Panama. As inflation rises in Costa Rica, Fuerza Publica officers expect to see consumer goods surpass drugs and money among smuggling circles.