K9 finds more than 5 tons of marijuana in shipping container bound for England

BALTIMORE, Md. (TMX) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it recently thwarted a drug smuggling operation “reminiscent of the 1980s” when it seized more than five tons of marijuana from a shipping container destined for England.

CBP officers in Baltimore on May 29 conducted an export inspection of a 40-foot shipping container from Nassau County, New York, that was bound for Liverpool, England. The shipment was manifested as men’s cotton and nylon shirts, but CBP narcotics detector dog Letti, a 2-year-old female German shepherd, alerted to the possible presence of narcotics.

A physical inspection revealed 238 boxes filled with vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana. In total, the marijuana weighed 10,615 pounds, more than five tons. The load has an estimated street value of around $24 million in the United States, but could sell for twice that amount in Europe, according to CBP.

“This is a recklessly brazen attempt to smuggle over five tons of marijuana through Baltimore to Europe, and an incredible effort by exceptionally professional Customs and Border Protection officers to intercept it,” said Adam Rottman, CBP’s Area Port Director in Baltimore. “Transnational criminal organizations remain teased by high marijuana profits that they expect to earn in Europe. CBP officers remain focused on ensuring that they never realize those illicit profits.”

Homeland Security Investigations special agents launched an investigation, which remains ongoing. No arrests have been made.

“This scheme to move multi-ton drug loads through commercial cargo channels represents an abuse of the same infrastructure that supports legitimate trade, drives up security and inspection costs, and places an additional burden on the communities that depend on these ports,” said Special Agent in Charge Akil Baldwin, Homeland Security Investigations Maryland. “HSI Maryland, together with CBP and our invaluable partners, is working tirelessly to stop criminal organizations from injecting millions of dollars in illicit product into global supply chains, and to protect both taxpayers’ money and the integrity of critical trade routes.”