BALTIMORE – A Global Entry member bogeyed his trusted traveler privilege and scored a $500 Zero Tolerance penalty after a Customs and Border Protection canine alert to his golf bag Monday at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The man, who was not criminally charged, returned on a flight from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. CBP narcotics detector dog Pike alerted to the man’s golf bag after it was offloaded from the airplane. Officers followed the bag to the baggage return belt and stopped the man after he retrieved it.
Officers discovered a grinder with marijuana residue and a CBD pen in the man’s golf bag. The man was a Global Entry member and officers revoked his trusted traveler status. Global Entry allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Any violation of the program’s terms and conditions will result in the appropriate enforcement action and termination of the traveler’s membership privileges.
“Customs and Border Protection bestows a certain trust upon Global Entry members that they will comply with all U.S. laws, and in return we expedite their international arrivals inspection,” said Keith Fleming, Acting Director of Field Operations for CBP’s Baltimore Field Office. “So it is essential, in order to protect the integrity of trusted traveler programs, that violators face severe consequences, including losing their trusted traveler privileges and potentially facing criminal charges.”
Though some states have decriminalized marijuana possession or use, importation of illicit narcotics remains illegal according to federal law.
Citizens considering international travel should visit CBP’s Travel website to learn what products are prohibited and admissible to bring back to the United States.
CBP seized an average of 3,707 pounds of dangerous drugs every day across the United States last year. Learn more about what CBP accomplished during “A Typical Day” in 2019.
CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. CBP officers screen international travelers and cargo and search for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.