Inspectors uncover numerous vacuum sealed packages inside luggage.
STERLING, Virginia – A Las Vegas woman is facing felony narcotics charges after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered more than 59 pounds of marijuana in her Germany-bound baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport on Sunday.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Police officers arrested Aleshia Anne Pinheiro, 42 years old, and charged her with transporting a controlled substance into the Commonwealth, and possession with intent to distribute, both felony charges.
While inspecting passenger baggage being loaded onto the Frankfurt-bound flight, CBP officers discovered numerous vacuum-sealed packages inside two hard-sided suitcases. CBP officers identified the passenger as Pinheiro through baggage tags, detained her at the departure gate, and escorted Pinheiro and her checked baggage to CBP’s inspection station for a secondary examination.
During the secondary examination, CBP officers discovered 50 vacuum-sealed packages inside the two suitcases. The packages contained a green leafy substance that field tested positive for marijuana.
The marijuana weighed a combined 26.88 kilograms, or 59 pounds, 4 ounces. The marijuana had a street value of about $240,000. Depending on potency, this shipment could have fetched two to three times more in Europe.
CBP officers across the country continue to observe a trend of transnational criminal organizations attempting to transport marijuana through passenger baggage and express air delivery to Europe where high-quality weed can generate huge profits.
Despite some states decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, marijuana possession and use remains illegal under federal law. Federal law also prohibits transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States.
CBP officers turned Pinheiro and the marijuana over to MWAA Police officers.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
“Anyone considering making a quick buck by carrying bulk marijuana loads for drug trafficking organizations should realize that the consequences you face can be severe when Customs and Border Protection officers catch you,” said Christine Waugh, Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Washington, D.C. “CBP will continue to seize these marijuana loads to deprive transnational criminal organizations of illicit revenue, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold drug mules accountable.”
Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of 1,571 pounds of dangerous drugs last year at and between our nation’s air, sea, and land ports of entry. See CBP’s enforcement stats to see what other dangerous drugs CBP is encountering at our nation’s borders.
CBP’s border security mission is led at our nation’s 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.