LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A would-be drug smuggler soaked a cow onesie in methamphetamine, part of a whole suitcase full of clothes he tried to sneak aboard a plane, US justice officials said Tuesday.

Raj Matharu checked in two bags at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight to Sydney, Australia, the US Department of Justice said.

As the cases passed through X-ray machines, customs officers became suspicious and opened them up for a closer look.

There they found more than a dozen items of clothing — including the cow onesie — that were dried stiff and covered in a white residue, according to the department.

Tests revealed the clothes had been soaked in a meth solution and allowed to dry, with more than one kilogram of the drug concealed among the fabrics, it added.

“Drug dealers are continually inventing creative ways of smuggling dangerous narcotics in pursuit of illicit profit,” said US Attorney Martin Estrada.

“In the process, they are poisoning communities throughout the world.”

Matharu, 31, of Northridge, California, has been charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.