Staggering drug haul found at major airport after bizarre attempt to hide evidence

The drugs were intercepted by undercover officers with the Orlando Police Department (OPD) and drug-sniffing K-9s, FOX 35 reported.

Investigators said the suspects used superglue and ripped-off luggage tags to try to evade police, as well as dryer sheets to conceal the smell of marijuana.

During one bust, which occurred on May 7, officers found 57.6 pounds of marijuana packed inside 50 vacuum-sealed bags, wrapped in blankets and stuffed with dryer sheets, according to the report.

FOX 35 identified the suspects as individuals in their 20s who are now facing felony drug trafficking charges.

Keith Jeffries, vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, told Fox News Digital that drug smuggling on commercial flights "can happen in multiple ways."

Jeffries also said law enforcement may have been tipped off about certain individuals or bags by a confidential informant.

Jeffries, who previously served as TSA's federal security director at LAX and deputy federal security director at MCO, added that drug trafficking "can happen on any domestic route - and it does."

"The illegal perpetrators in this [situation] may think and believe that, well, the security must be lax there, which is not the case," Jeffries said.

He also noted that TSA officers do not specifically search for illegal drugs, and that suspected narcotics discovered during screening are referred to law enforcement.

"The TSA's administrative search authority is very, very narrow and very specific," Jeffries said.

"TSA does not look for illegal narcotics," he added. "They simply say, 'We've got an unknown substance, and we need law enforcement's attention so that law enforcement can validate what it is or is not.'"

Fox News Digital reached out to the Orlando Police Department for additional information.