PHILADELPHIA – One week after seizing 72 pounds of marijuana from an Ireland-bound man, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Philadelphia intercepted an eight-pound marijuana load destined to Bermuda.
While examining departing international parcels on May 2, CBP officers discovered seven vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana concealed inside an air fryer. The marijuana, which was being shipped from an address in Ocean County, N.J., weighed a combined 3.49 kilograms, or seven pounds, 11 ounces, and has a street value of about $17,000.
However, this load is worth about $150,000 in Bermuda because high-potency U.S. marijuana is fetching prices many times higher across the globe.
Marijuana possession and distribution remains illegal under U.S. federal law, including exporting bulk shipments to foreign nations.
An investigation continues.
On April 24, CBP officers intercepted a passenger who attempted to take 72 pounds of marijuana in his checked luggage to Dublin, Ireland.
“Customs and Border Protection officers are seeing a stream of bulk marijuana being illegally carried in baggage or shipped out of the United States, and we want to remind the public that marijuana possession and distribution remains illegal under federal law. CBP officers will continue to seize marijuana when we encounter it and deliver consequences to drug couriers who violate our nation’s laws,” said Rene Ortega Acting Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Philadelphia.
CBP officers and agents seized an average of 2,895 pounds of dangerous drugs every day at our nation’s air, land and sea ports of entry. See what else CBP accomplished during “A Typical Day” in 2022.
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.
Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.
