STERLING, Virginia — Valentine’s Day may have passed a week ago, but that didn’t stop a woman from presenting chocolate to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Washington Dulles International Airport Monday. Only problem was this chocolate was stuffed with hashish and that landed the woman behind bars.
found in a traveler's chocolates.
Ahdieh Bassam, 49-years-old, a citizen of Iran and a U.S. lawful permanent resident living in Oak Hill, Virginia, arrived on a flight from Turkey. During a secondary inspection, CBP officers examined four boxes of chocolates wrapped in plastic. Officers probed a sample of the chocolate and discovered a hard, brown substance that field-tested positive for THC/hashish.
The total weight of the chocolate and hashish was about 5 pounds, 12 ounces.
CBP officers turned Bassam and the chocolates over to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police who charged her locally with possession of a controlled substance.
“Customs and Border Protection officers know that people will try a wide variety of creative concealment methods to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States, and it is our job to intercept these smuggling attempts,” said Casey Durst, CBP’s Field Operations Director in Baltimore. “We remain committed to securing our homeland and protecting the health and well-being of our families and the American public.”
CBP uses a variety of techniques to intercept narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products, and to assure that global tourism remains safe and strong. On a typical day, CBP seizes an average of 5863 pounds of narcotics. Learn more about what CBP accomplishes during "A Typical Day."
CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.
Learn more about CBP at CBP.gov.