US CBP officers intercept 247 pounds of marijuana in four London-bound smuggling attempts at BWI
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted 247 pounds of marijuana in four London bound smuggling loads recently at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
CBP officers discovered 116 pounds of marijuana on Feb. 6 in the baggage of a pair of travelers from Baltimore, 73 pounds on March 11 in the baggage of a Los Angeles couple, 29 pounds on March 16 in the baggage of a United Kingdom woman, and a final load of 29 pounds on March 19 in the baggage of a Baltimore man.
CBP officers also discovered nearly five pounds of hashish in the LA couple’s checked baggage.
The U.K. woman was determined to be inadmissible, removed, and barred from returning to the United States.
The U.S. citizen travelers were released; however, investigations continue and the subjects may be charged later.
Two CBP narcotics detector dogs alerted officers in two of the marijuana seizures. Ozzy, a 3-year-old male American Black Labrador alerted to the Baltimore man’s baggage on the March 19 seizure, and Letti, a nearly 2-year-old female German Shepherd alerted to the LA couple’s baggage in the March 11 seizure.
In each case, CBP officers inspected baggage being loaded onto London bound flights, detected the marijuana, identified the travelers through their baggage tags, and detained them at their departure gates.
Collectively, these weed loads had a street value of about $675,000 in the United States. High-quality weed could fetch prices two to three times higher in Europe.
“If you smuggle drug loads for criminal organizations, we will catch you and you will face criminal consequences. Don’t be a fool and do jail time for uncaring gangs that see you as cheap, disposable labor,” said Adam Rottman, CBP’s area port director in Baltimore. “Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold smugglers and criminal organizations accountable.”
CBP officers across the country continue to observe a trend of transnational criminal organizations attempting to transport marijuana through passenger baggage and express air delivery to Europe where high-quality weed can generate huge profits.
Despite some states decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, marijuana possession and use remains illegal under federal law. Federal law also prohibits transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States.
Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of about 1,600 pounds of dangerous drugs last year at and between our nation’s air, sea, and land ports of entry. See CBP’s enforcement stats to see what other dangerous drugs CBP is encountering at our nation’s borders.
CBP’s border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
