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Sydney Lewis, 33, of Bryans City, is the latest traveler to be busted attempting to traffic drugs through the area after she was caught trying to pull a fast one on officers at the airport earlier this week, officials said.
According to investigators, while inspecting bags heading onto a Paris-bound flight, officers found the vacuum-sealed bags loaded with marijuana in a pair of suitcases. They then identified the bags as belonging to Lewis, who was taken into custody.
"Officers extracted 50 vacuum-sealed bags of a green, leafy substance from the suitcases and a field-test proved the substance was positive for marijuana," officials said.
The marijuana weighed a combined 24.19 kilograms, or 53 pounds, five ounces, officials said, which is worth an estimated $250,000 in the US and could fetch double or triple that in France.
Lewis was turned over to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police officers, and has been charged with felony possession with intent to distribute, transportation, and narcotics conspiracy offenses.
She is just the latest to try and sneak drugs past customs.
Officers at the airport recently seized 73 pounds of marijuana being smuggled to Paris and 88 pounds of hashish destined to Brazil during recent stops, both of whom were hit with felony drug charges by Virginia State Police.
“Marijuana remains illegal federally. Travelers who gamble with their freedom by smuggling bulk amounts of marijuana for a little extra cash may find themselves on the losing end of that proposition,” CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, DC Marc Calixte said.
“Customs and Border Protection officers are hard to bet against, and our officers will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that drug smugglers are held accountable.”
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