Philadelphia CBP officers bag $2.4 million weed shipment destined to the UK

PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a load of nearly 500 pounds of marijuana near Philadelphia on Jan. 6 that was being shipped from the state of Georgia to the United Kingdom.

During routine export inspections, CBP officers examined a shipping container consisting of 80 boxes manifested as clothing. The clothing was shipped from Decatur, Georgia, to an address in Oxford, England.

Officers opened a box and discovered marijuana in a vacuum-sealed bag. Officers then examined all 80 boxes and discovered that seven of the 80 boxes contained vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana.

CBP officers counted a total of 405 vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana. Interestingly, the packages were labeled with unique names possibly to identify different strains of marijuana, such as Runtzberry, Joker Candy, Galactic Gas, Mega Cherries, and Blue Zooties.

The marijuana weighed a combined 218 kilograms, or about 481 pounds.

The marijuana had a street value of $2.4 million in the United States. High potency marijuana could fetch two to three times that amount in Europe.

CBP officers seized the marijuana.

“Customs and Border Protection officers routinely conduct export inspections, but rarely do we encounter marijuana loads of this magnitude in containerized cargo anymore, so this was a bit of an eye-opener that drug trafficking organizations may be shifting their bulk-smuggling tactics,” said Cleatus P. Hunt, Jr., CBP’s area port director for the area port of Philadelphia. “One way to combat transnational criminal organizations is to hit them hard in the wallet by seizing these bulk marijuana loads and depriving them of any ill-gotten gains.”

CBP officers and agents seize an average of 1,571 pounds of drugs, including 78 pounds of fentanyl, every day at our nation’s air, sea, and land ports of entry. See what else CBP accomplishes during “A Typical Day” and view CBP enforcement stats and summaries.

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. Learn more at www.CBP.gov.

Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.