You say ‘tomato,’ I say heroin

THESE TOMATOES were not homegrown.

Two suspected drug smugglers were arrested after investigators searched a U-Haul in the parking lot of a New Jersey hotel and found boxes filled with tomatoes — and nearly 18 pounds of heroin, authorities said Thursday.

Operating on a tip May 1, investigators with a joint task force of NYPD, New York State and federal cops followed Abel Abad and David Collazo to a Best Western in Fort Lee, where the men left the U-Haul and drove off to Manhattan in a Dodge.

Agents stopped the car along the West Side Highway near W. 158th St. and found a plastic bag in a cardboard box that allegedly contained more than 4 pounds of heroin.

After Abad and Collazo were arrested, investigators returned to Fort Lee with a state police canine unit and recovered boxed raw tomatoes from the U-Haul. The boxes had false bottoms, and a further search revealed what is believed to be heroin.

Agents learned the narcotics had been packed into the boxes in Chicago. Heroin and cocaine were also seized in a Chicago bust.

The Drug Enforcement Agency estimated the street value of the 22-plus pounds of heroin at more than $3 million .