At first glance it may seem that the account of what allegedly happened last week at Dulles International Airport is backward. But federal agents said they discovered an attempt at Dulles to smuggle a prohibited substance out of the United States.
The incident may seem to conflict with conventional wisdom about federally prohibited substances and the borders of the United States, and the direction of movement of such substances across those borders.
However, the incident appeared to be based on economics, federal law and market forces. Although some states have relaxed their restrictions on marijuana, it is still considered an illegal drug on the federal level, a CBP official said.
At the same time, CBP said, in Paris and elsewhere overseas, “high potency weed can fetch much higher prices than in the United States.”
In a statement, the federal agency said it has noticed that growers and retailers have increasingly been shipping marijuana to both Europe and Africa.
Usually CBP said, the shipments have been in smaller parcels. But sometimes, according to the agency, travelers have been found with “marijuana-stuffed suitcases.”
In last week’s alleged incident, CBP said its officers found large vacuum-sealed bags full of suspected marijuana in three suitcases being loaded onto a flight to Iceland. The travelers involved, who were from Las Vegas, were to go to Paris through Iceland, CBP said.
The travelers and luggage were escorted to an inspection state. Examination of the luggage turned up 68 vacuum-sealed bags of “a green, leafy substance that field-tested positive for marijuana,” CBP said.
It said the 72 pounds and 15 ounces of marijuana had a possible street value of up to $350,000 in this country, depending on potency. But it could bring two to three times more in the French capital, the federal agency said.
CBP said its officers turned the men and the marijuana over to troopers from the Virginia State Police.
In last week’s statement, a CBP official warned of the status of marijuana under federal law. Travelers smuggling marijuana in bulk “gamble with their freedom to chase a few extra bucks,” said Marc E. Calixte, CBP’s area port director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C.
