$1.5M In Weed Seized At Delco Shipping Facility: Federal Authorities

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Nearly 350 pounds of marijuana worth about $1.5 million was seized at a Delaware County international shipping service facility recently, according to federal authorities.

Just a few days after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized 170 pounds of marijuana at a Delaware County warehouse, authorities found 343 more pounds of United Kingdom-bound marijuana at an international shipping service facility in Delaware County.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6, customs officers seized 25 parcels that weighed a combined 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds and four ounces. Then on Friday, officers seized another 52 parcels that weighed a combined 95.6 kilograms, or 210 pounds and 12 ounces.

The two seizures collectively weighed 155.6 kilograms, or 343 pounds.

The marijuana had a combined street value of about $1.5 million. Depending on potency, these parcels could have fetched two to three times more in London.

CBP officers also found a parcel that contained 2 pounds and 5 ounces of hashish.

The parcels were all being shipped from multiple addresses in California to multiple addresses in the U.K.

These seizures follow two recent significant seizures of contraband California cannabis being shipped to the U.K., including the 170 pounds seizure mentioned above, and the seizure of 114 pounds that were concealed inside the baggage of two women on Oct. 22.

"Customs and Border Protection officers continue to seize an unprecedented number of illicit export parcels of marijuana, which illustrates both the value and the threats presented by the global marketplace," Cleatus Hunt, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia, said. "Consumers around the world can essentially get whatever they want and from wherever they want at the price that they want to spend, even if the product violates the export or import nation’s laws or whether the product poses a health and safety threat to consumers. CBP will continue to enforce our nation’s laws and protect the people of the United States and those abroad, by intercepting shipments that are illegal or potentially dangerous, including illicit marijuana export parcels when we encounter them."

Federal law prohibits transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States. However, CBP is observing a continuing trend of United States-based growers, retailers, and criminal organizations shipping or transporting marijuana to Europe and Africa where high-quality weed can fetch prices many times higher than in the U.S.