U.S. customs in Philadelphia's suburbs intercepted about $1.5 million worth of marijuana that was headed to the United Kingdom.
Customs and Border Protection officers seized 343 pounds of pot at "an international shipping service facility in Delaware County" in two different incidents on Nov. 6, and Nov. 8, 2024, Customs and Border Protection said in a Nov. 14, 2024, news release.
The pot was packed in 77 combined parcels, CBP said.
"The parcels were all being shipped from multiple addresses in California to multiple addresses in the U.K.," CBP said.
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The pot had a U.S. street value of about $1.5 million, CBP said, while noting the pot could have fetched at least twice as much in London, England.
CBP noted that recently two other shipments of contraband weed from California to the U.K. were also intercepted.
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"Federal law prohibits transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States," CBP noted. "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."
The Philadelphia CBP pledged to continue its fight against illegal shipments.
“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," Cleatus Hunt, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. said. "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."
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