Sault Ste Marie, Mich. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, at the International Bridge in Sault Sainte Marie, stopped a woman who was attempting to enter the United States carrying marijuana internally.
Tuesday, CBP officers encountered a 25-year-old Canadian citizen from Huntsville, Ontario, as she applied for admission to the United States at the International Bridge border crossing in Sault Ste. Marie. The woman was traveling with her one-year-old son and her United States citizen boyfriend and claimed to be going to Wisconsin for a two-month stay. The CBP officer selected the vehicle for further inspection and directed the occupants to the CBP secondary inspection area.
During the course of the secondary inspection, CBP officers discovered marijuana cigarettes and other associated drug paraphernalia in the woman's purse and in the vehicle. As the inspection continued, the woman admitted that she had inserted marijuana in her rectal cavity in an attempt to smuggle it over the border. Approximately six grams of marijuana was concealed in a plastic baggie, wrapped in a prophylactic.
"This incident reminds us of the lengths people will go to smuggle harmful substances into our country," said Devin Chamberlain, CBP Port Director. "This is another example of the hard work and thorough inspections performed every day by CBP officers at the port of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan."
The illicit narcotics were seized and the traveler was penalized, refused entry into the United States and returned to Canada.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.