New York, New York - Something must have smelled fishy to feds who busted a man at New York's JFK Airport on charges of trying to smuggle more than 18 kilograms of cocaine inside bags of frozen jumbo shrimp.

Zacharie Scott (22) was caught with the illicit packaged prawns inside his two suitcases at the Queens airport on Friday morning, police said.

Scott – an American citizen living in Guyana – had just departed his American Airlines flight from the South American country when Customs and Border Protection officers selected him for a secondary search while he went through screening, court documents reveal.

When examining Scott's luggage, officers found loose clothing and multiple packages of frozen jumbo shrimp wrapped in sealed plastic.

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Upon cutting open the packaged shrimp, they discovered bricks of white powder later determined to be cocaine, according to court papers. The haul of cocaine weighed 18.45 kilograms in all.

When Department of Homeland Security officers arrested Scott, he allegedly stated that "he knew it was wrong to bring the packages into the United States."

Scott told investigators he was supposed to get a payment of about $5,000 to $6,000 for the illegal task, court documents show.

Federal Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo ordered Scott held at his Saturday arraignment pending a bail hearing on Tuesday.

Scott's attorney, James Darrow, declined to comment on the case.

If convicted, Scott faces up to 20 years in prison.