CBP Seizes 5 Tons of Marijuana Bound for England

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Baltimore seized more than 10,000 pounds of marijuana concealed in a shipping container that was bound for Liverpool, England, the agency exclusively told The Epoch Times on June 18.

It was a shockingly large encounter, a CBP official said, and was “reminiscent of the 1980s weed smuggling heyday” when multi-ton shipments were commonplace. Marijuana seizures for the first seven months of this fiscal year now outpace all of last fiscal year by 5,000 pounds.

“Transnational criminal organizations remain teased by high marijuana profits that they expect to earn in Europe,” said Adam Rottman, CBP’s area port director in Baltimore. “CBP officers remain focused on ensuring that they never realize those illicit profits.”

Agents conducted a routine export inspection on May 29 of a 40-foot shipping container from Nassau County, New York, labeled as containing men’s cotton and nylon shirts.

Upon inspection, a CBP narcotics dog, 2-year-old female German shepherd Letti, detected narcotics inside the container. Officers discovered 238 boxes “stuffed full” of vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana.

The combined weight totaled 10,615 pounds, which has a street value of about $24 million in the United States, according to CBP. Rottman called the encounter a “recklessly brazen attempt” to smuggle through Baltimore to Europe, where high-quality marijuana can generate profits sometimes two to three times higher than in the United States.

No arrests have been made in connection with the more than five-ton load, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is leading the charge on the investigation.

Transnational criminal organizations have been trying to smuggle marijuana to Europe, according to the agency, with the illegal narcotics mostly hidden in “kilo-sized parcels” through express air delivery but now also in passenger baggage. Recent seizures by CBP this year at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport reflect this trend.

Agents discovered two Baltimore residents with 116 pounds of marijuana in their luggage on Feb. 6.

A month later, a Los Angeles couple was stopped at the Baltimore airport with 73 pounds of marijuana.

On March 16, agents intercepted 29 pounds of marijuana from a UK woman.

Three days later, 29 pounds of marijuana was seized from a Baltimore man.

The U.S. citizens were released, but investigations continue, and charges may come at a later date, CBP stated. The woman from the UK was removed and barred from returning to the United States.

This trend has been observed at other airports in the Mid-Atlantic region as well.

CBP officers seized 57 pounds of marijuana on April 16 at Washington Dulles International Airport from the luggage of two Baltimore residents bound for London. The individuals both face multiple drug charges.

In back-to-back days in March, CBP agents at Philadelphia International Airport seized 41 pounds of marijuana from a New York woman bound for London and 56 pounds from a California woman with a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. They both face a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute.

Now, CBP stated that it has intercepted larger, bulk loads of marijuana smuggling, such as the recent five-ton seizure, which is similar to smuggling tactics in the 1980s and marks an unusual shift in present trends.

Last week, CBP officers intercepted more than 1,600 pounds of marijuana hidden in a commercial truck at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo, New York. The shipment was labeled as chocolate and had a street value of about $4 million.

In January, 500 pounds of marijuana was seized near Philadelphia from a shipping container labeled as containing shirts bound for Oxford, UK.

“This scheme to move multi-ton drug loads through commercial cargo channels represents an abuse of the same infrastructure that supports legitimate trade, drives up security and inspection costs, and places an additional burden on the communities that depend on these ports,” HSI Maryland Special Agent in Charge Akil Baldwin said.

CBP’s drug seizure amounts far surpass those of previous years.

For the first seven months of this fiscal year, CBP has seized 516,000 pounds of illegal narcotics. For the entirety of last fiscal year, the amount was 583,000 pounds, and for fiscal year 2024, it was 573,000 pounds.

Specifically for marijuana seizures, CBP officers seized about 185,000 pounds last fiscal year. Through the first seven months of this fiscal year, agents have seized about 190,000 pounds.