U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Weed was en route to England, Customs officials say
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized a combined 179 pounds of marijuana before Thanksgiving at an international shipping service facility in Delaware County.
While inspecting export parcels on Nov. 13, CBP officers discovered marijuana in 24 parcels that weighed a combined 46 kilograms, or 101 pounds and six ounces, and on November 19, CBP officers discovered another 28 marijuana-stuffed parcels that weighed a combined 35.4 kilograms, or about 78 pounds and one ounce. The parcels were all being shipped from multiple addresses in California to multiple addresses in the U.K.
These seizures collectively weighed 81.4 kilograms, or about 179 pounds and seven ounces. The weed has a street value of about $780,000 in the United States. Depending on potency, these parcels could have fetched two to three times more in London.
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.
