STERLING, Va. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 10 pounds of marijuana in a Nigeria-bound passenger’s checked baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport on Tuesday.
CBP officers discovered the marijuana, which consisted of 10 vacuum-sealed packages concealed inside clothing in a traveler’s suitcase, while examining baggage of travelers boarding a flight to Lagos, Nigeria. The marijuana weighed a combined 4.7 kilograms, or about 10 pounds and six ounces.
Officers were unable to locate the traveler associated with the suitcase at the departure gate or in the airport. An investigation continues.
Dulles Airport is nearly 5,500 miles from Lagos, Nigeria, and is an unusual marijuana smuggling route. Marijuana is illegal in Nigeria for both recreational and medical uses.
The marijuana had a street value in the United States of about $8,000 and about $30,000 in Nigeria.
“Every day, Customs and Border Protection officers at Dulles Airport examine outbound baggage and air cargo to ensure compliance with applicable U.S. laws. Sometimes we discover illicit products, but intercepting a marijuana load crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Nigeria is quite unusual with the abundance of marijuana available around the globe,” said Kim Der-Yeghiayan, Acting Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Washington, D.C.
CBP officers and agents seized an average of 4,732 pounds of dangerous drugs every day at our nation’s air, land and sea ports of entry. See what else CBP accomplished during a typical day in 2021.
CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality. Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.