Customs officers at Dulles International Airport seized more than two pounds of marijuana from the baggage of a traveler bound for Nigeria.
It’s the second time in three months that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers have seized marijuana from a Nigeria-bound passenger. Last October, officers seized more 10 pounds at Dulles Airport, as well.
Marijuana is illegal in Nigeria for both recreational and medical uses.
CBP said that on Jan. 14, a man tried to board a flight to Lagos, and when officers inspected his baggage, they found a green substance in two vacuum-packed bags. The contents tested positive for THC. The marijuana had a street value of $1,800 in the U.S. and about $6,500 in Nigeria.
CBP turned the traveler and marijuana over to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police, who charged him with narcotics possession.
“It is remarkable that this is a second traveler destined to Nigeria who decided that smuggling marijuana was an acceptable risk considering the travel expense and limited profit potential versus the high probability of being caught by a Customs and Border Protection officer and potential incarceration,” said Kim Der-Yeghiayan, acting Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Washington, D.C.
An average 4,700 pounds of dangerous drugs are seized every day by CBP officers, a news release said.
