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Tag: marijuana trafficking

  • Police Seize 976 Pounds Of Marijuana, 2,000 THC Vaping Cartridges In Massive Bust

    Police Seize 976 Pounds Of Marijuana, 2,000 THC Vaping Cartridges In Massive Bust

    The shipment was headed to Georgia before it was intercepted.

    Law enforcement officials in North Texas got a lot more than they bargained for during a routine traffic stop on November 18, CBS News reports.

    A conversation with the driver raised the suspicion of a Sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Unit deputy who searched the car after getting consent from the driver. The massive haul was reportedly from California and was on its way to Georgia before it was intercepted by authorities. One person was arrested.

    Another Bust Heading To North Carolina

    The North Texas bust is one of many big-time drug seizures coming out of California. Two days ago, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas intercepted a delivery during a stop that netted 65 grams of meth, around 50 pounds of marijuana, opioids, drug paraphernalia and loaded weapons. The big haul was on its way to North Carolina. The driver was taken into custody.

    Marijuana trafficking out of California has become quite common since the state legalized the drug for recreational use in 2016. In the 2019 fiscal year, authorities in California have  seized more than $1.5 billion worth of illegally grown marijuana. 

    “Illegal cannabis grows are devastating our communities. Criminals who disregard life, poison our waters, damage our public lands, and weaponize the illegal cannabis black market will be brought to justice,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a recent press release.

    Campaign Against Marijuana Planting Program

    The Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) Program, the nation’s largest illegal marijuana eradication program, has arrested 148 individuals, eradicated 953,459 marijuana plants from 345 raided grow sites across the state and seized a total of 168 weapons.

    “This year, our CAMP teams worked tirelessly across the state to vigorously enforce California’s laws against illegal cannabis activity. The California Department of Justice is extremely proud of our partnership with federal, state, and local agencies and we look forward to continuing this necessary work.”

    The unlicensed black market remains massive in the golden state where, according to NBC News, “illegal sellers outnumber legal and regulated businesses almost 3-to-1.”

    “Our participation works to prevent this illegal market in order to promote a fair market place for those growers, producers, and vendors who choose to operate within the system that the voters approved,” said Robert Paoletti, Coordinator Colonel, California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Nearly Four Tons Of Pot Found In Jalapeño Peppers

    Nearly Four Tons Of Pot Found In Jalapeño Peppers

    Two days before the jalapeño bust, officers found 10,000 pounds of marijuana in a shipment of auto parts.

    A Mexican drug smuggler is in hot water after he was caught transporting nearly four tons of marijuana, worth $2.3 million, hidden in a shipment of jalapeño peppers. 

    The 37-year-old driver, who has not been named, entered the US through the Otay Mesa cargo facility, on the American-Mexican border just east of Tijuana, US Customs and Border Protection revealed in a press release. The truck was initially inspected, and then sent to a secondary screening, where a drug dog indicated that there was cannabis on board. 

    When agents began going through the peppers, they found leafy green substances that tested positive for marijuana. They ultimately pulled 314 packages that contained a total of 7,560 pounds of cannabis from within the containers of peppers.

    “I am proud of the officers for seizing this significant marijuana load,” Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa Hernandez said in a news release. “Not only did they prevent the drugs from reaching our community, they also prevented millions of dollars of potential profit from making it into the hands of  a transnational criminal organization.”

    Although the marijuana being smuggled in a jalapeño pepper shipment caught headlines, it wasn’t the biggest bust at the facility this week.

    Bigger Bust

    On August 13, two days before the pepper bust, officers detected 10,000 pounds of cannabis in a shipment of auto parts. Customs and Border Protection reports that marijuana is the most common illegal substance that comes over the U.S.-Mexican Border.

    From October 2018 through July 2019 the agency seized 225,000 pounds of marijuana, compared to just 81,000 pounds of cocaine, the second most commonly seized illegal substance. 

    Earlier this year, Customs and Border Protection reported that drug cartels were using trucks designed to look like those for the postal service or major brands in order to smuggle drug across the border with less scrutiny.

    Unsuspecting Drivers

    Traffickers have even used drivers who were totally unsuspecting. Last year, a Mexican man who works in the US called the San Diego Sheriff’s Office when he discovered five pounds of unidentified drugs stuck onto his car with a magnet.

    “It’s our feeling that someone targeted this car because he could cross the border every day with the [commuter’ pass and they were probably waiting to collect the narcotics later today,” Sgt. Tim Chantler of the Sheriff’s department said at the time.

    The driver was let off the hook because he called the police, but Chantler said that others need to be aware of the risk. 

    “I would be checking my vehicle every day before I cross the border, because if you get caught at the border you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Pot-Smuggling Arrests at LAX Up 166% Since Legalization

    Pot-Smuggling Arrests at LAX Up 166% Since Legalization

    Arrests at California’s busiest airport rose to 101 in 2018, up from 38 in 2017. 

    The Los Angeles Times has reported that drug trafficking arrests at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) have surged 166% since the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2018.

    Arrests at LAX, which is the busiest airport in the state of California, saw 101 trafficking arrests in 2018, up from 38 in 2017. Other California airports, including Oakland and Sacramento, are reporting similar increases.

    But while it’s legal to carry up to 28.5 grams of marijuana at LAX, travelers may run afoul of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, who as federal employees must uphold the federal government’s prohibitive stance towards marijuana.

    The Sacramento Bee outlined the issue in its coverage of the Times‘ reporting. Per LAX policy, travelers are allowed to carry 28.5 grams of marijuana and 8 grams of concentrated marijuana for personal consumption.

    The Bee quoted Los Angeles Airport Police spokesperson Alicia Hernandez who said, “We’re not going to arrest you or confiscate marijuana.”

    However, since commercial planes fly through federal airspace, travelers must still check in with TSA agents at LAX and other California airports, and the rules that apply to airport police regarding marijuana are not the same for federal agents. “TSA can deny you coming through the checkpoint,” said Hernandez. “The checkpoint is their jurisdiction.”

    TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers outlined the administration’s policy regarding marijuana in an email to the Bee. “TSA’s screening procedures, which are governed by federal law, are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers.”

    So if TSA agents find marijuana on a traveler or in their luggage, they must refer the issue to local law enforcement, even if the state or country where the airport is located—or where the traveler is heading—allows legalized marijuana. From there, law enforcement will determine “whether or not the passenger is allowed to travel with marijuana.”

    Hernandez again asserted that travelers stopped by TSA at LAX will face no arrests. But as the Bee noted, missing a flight due to law enforcement intervention remains a possibility.

    To that end, LA City Councilman Mitch Englander has suggested the implementation of “amnesty boxes,” where travelers can deposit marijuana before entering a TSA checkpoint. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada has 20 such boxes available for travelers. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Illegal Marijuana Exporters Thrive In Colorado

    Illegal Marijuana Exporters Thrive In Colorado

    Authorities and regulators admit that this rise in black market activity is partly a growing pain, resulting from unforeseen consequences of legalization.

    The relaxed attitude about marijuana use has emboldened some growers and dealers who do business without a license.

    Legalization was supposed to kill the black market for marijuana, creating avenues for official businesses that would raise some tax income for the state of Colorado. However, some dealers have chosen to stay in the black market, taking advantage of the new, relaxed attitude towards the drug to expand their illegal grow and deal operations.

    “We thought that the black market would disappear,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper. “Evidently it contracted and then began to expand again, and that’s counter-intuitive, right? It is not what you would expect.”

    Colorado voted to legalize the drug in 2013, reasoning that jailing citizens over a relatively harmless drug was doing more harm than good. The state allows people 21 years of age or older to buy or grow reasonable amounts of marijuana. But despite these good intentions, some have taken advantage of the new, destigmatized political climate to upgrade their operations to the point where they are “just like a corporation,” according to Bob Troyer, Colorado’s former US attorney.

    These organizations also smuggle the goods outside to illegal states. Authorities have found contraband Coloradoan marijuana in more than 34 states. The pot can be traced back to huge illegal grow operations found in state parks, farmland or even inside neighborhood homes. A significant portion of the marijuana black marketeers hail from outside the United States, from places as far as Mexico, Cuba and even China.

    “The thing that nobody predicted (was that) normalization, commercialization, would be a magnet for international black market activity,” explained Troyer.

    Authorities and regulators admit that this rise in black market activity is partly a growing pain, resulting from unforeseen consequences of legalization.

    “I think one of the mistakes that was made in Colorado and some other states is allowing for home cultivation,” said Chris Woods, who founded a marijuana grow and retail business called Terrapin Care Station. “What we’re seeing right now is a lot of clean-up from the mistakes that have been made.”

    At least one regulation has been overturned and cleaned up since legalization: the 99 plant rule. Originally, the state allowed medical marijuana patients, and their caregivers, to store and grow up to 99 plants.

    “I think the 99 plant thing really opened the floodgates. No other states (allowed) any numbers like that,” said DEA agent Kevin Merrill. “Outside organizations took advantage of that … If you got 10 people signed up, you effectively could have 999 plants in a residence.”

    Authorities believe that as long as there is demand from illegal states, the black market will continue to grow.

    View the original article at thefix.com