CNBNews

PHILADELPHIA (November 14, 2024)– Within days of seizing 170 pounds of marijuana destined to the United Kingdom, Customs and Border Protection officers seized 343 more pounds of UK-bound marijuana at an international shipping service facility in Delaware County, Pa.

On November 6, CBP officers seized 25 parcels that weighed a combined 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds and four ounces, and on Friday, CBP officers seized another 52 parcels that weighed a combined 95.6 kilograms, or 210 pounds and 12 ounces.

The two seizures collectively weighed 155.6 kilograms, or 343 pounds. The marijuana had a combined street value of about $1.5 million. Depending on potency, these parcels could have fetched two to three times more in London.

CBP officers also found a parcel that contained two pounds and five ounces of hashish.

The parcels were all being shipped from multiple addresses in California to multiple addresses in the U.K.

These seizures follow two recent significant seizures of contraband California cannabis being shipped to the U.K., including a combined 170 pounds in 35 export parcels on November 4, and 114 pounds concealed inside the baggage of two women on October 22.

“Customs and Border Protection officers continue to seize an unprecedented number of illicit export parcels of marijuana, which illustrates both the value and the threats presented by the global marketplace. Consumers around the world can essentially get whatever they want and from wherever they want at the price that they want to spend, even if the product violates the export or import nation’s laws or whether the product poses a health and safety threat to consumers,” said Cleatus Hunt, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. “CBP will continue to enforce our nation’s laws and protect the people of the United States and those abroad, by intercepting shipments that are illegal or potentially dangerous, including illicit marijuana export parcels when we encounter them.”

Federal law prohibits transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States. However, CBP is observing a continuing trend of United States-based growers, retailers, and criminal organizations shipping or transporting marijuana to Europe and Africa where high-quality weed can fetch prices many times higher than in the U.S.

Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of 2,339 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.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is America’s frontline: the nation’s largest law enforcement organization and the world’s first unified border management agency. The 65,000+ men and women of CBP protect America on the ground, in the air, and on the seas. We facilitate safe, lawful travel and trade and ensure our country's economic prosperity. We enhance the nation’s security through innovation, intelligence, collaboration, and trust.