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U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Philadelphia said it seized 343 pounds of marijuana last week, days after a 170-pound seizure that officers described as “unprecedented.”
On November 6, border agents seized 25 parcels with a combined weight of 132 pounds and 4 ounces. Two days later, on November 8, it seized another 52 parcels with a combined weight of 210 pounds and 12 ounces. The seizures occurred at an international shipping service facility in Delaware County, CBP said in a news release.
According to the release, officers also found a parcel containing 2 pounds and 5 ounces of hashish, and the drug hauls were bound for the United Kingdom, the destination of other recent seizures.
The parcels, shipped from addresses in California, were en route to addresses in the U.K. According to the release, the marijuana hauls had a combined street value of about $1.5 million, but depending on the potency, the parcels could have fetched $3 million to $4.5 million in London.
Images of the hauls released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. One haul of 52 parcels had a combined weight of more than 210 pounds, the agency said.
Images of the hauls released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. One haul of 52 parcels had a combined weight of more than 210 pounds, the agency said.
CBP
Cleatus Hunt, CBP’s area port director for the Area Port of Philadelphia, said in the release: “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.
“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.
“CBP will continue to enforce our nation’s laws and protect the people of the United States and those abroad, by intercepting shipments that are illegal or potentially dangerous, including illicit marijuana export parcels when we encounter them.”
Newsweek has contacted CBP for comment via email outside standard working hours.
On November 4, CBP officers in Philadelphia seized 170 pounds of marijuana, which officials described as “unprecedented” at the time.
That haul, worth about $800,000 and also bound for London, was discovered during an inspection of export parcels.
Agents seized 35 parcels, which they said was an “unusual” quantity to find in a single day.
In October, agents found 114 pounds of marijuana concealed inside the suitcases of two U.K.-bound women.
CBP said it had observed a continuing trend of growers, retailers and criminal organizations in the United States shipping or transporting marijuana to Europe and Africa, where high-quality weed can fetch prices many times higher than in the U.S.
According to the agency, it seized an average of 2,339 pounds of dangerous drugs every day in 2023.
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“}]] A 343-pound marijuana seizure was the latest in a string of U.K.-bound shipments intercepted by Customs and Border Protection. Read More
