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According to US Customs and Border Protection, officers discovered 155 vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana during an inspection of air cargo manifested as “brace overalls for men / heavy duty workwear bib.”
Instead, officers found 91.3 kilograms — or 201 pounds and five ounces — of high-quality marijuana.
The load had an estimated street value of $875,000 in the United States, but CBP officials say that in Europe, it could fetch two to three times more, depending on its potency.
CBP says it’s part of a growing trend of criminals trying to ship US-grown marijuana to Europe and Africa, where the price per pound is significantly higher.
“Smugglers, including transnational criminal organizations, based in oversaturated marijuana markets attempt to generate revenue by illegally exporting bulk shipments to markets across the globe,” said Jason Kropiewnicki, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director in Baltimore.
“Customs and Border Protection officers are committed to enforcing our nation’s laws and interrupting these smuggling attempts to deprive criminals of their illicit profits.”
Despite the growing number of states legalizing marijuana for recreational or medicinal use, bulk marijuana exports remain illegal under federal law, and it’s still a felony to transport pot across state lines or outside the country, officials noted.
Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations’ Border Enforcement Security Task Force are leading the investigation.
Every day, CBP officers and agents seize more than 1,500 pounds of drugs across U.S. ports of entry, the agency said.
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