DULLES, Va. — Customs officers at Dulles Airport are feeling a sense of déjà vu as a traveler attempted to smuggle weed to Nigeria, just three months after a similar incident.
In October 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized over 10 pounds of marijuana in a passenger's luggage headed to Nigeria at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Fast-forward to Jan. 14 and officers discovered another traveler attempting to board a flight to Lagos. When officers inspected his baggage they found a green substance in two vacuum-packed bags.
The traveler was taken to CBP's inspection station and the substance was tested. Those tests were positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The marijuana weighed a combined two pounds, four ounces. The street value of the weed was about $1,800 in the U.S. and about $6,500 in Nigeria.
Marijuana is illegal in Nigeria for both recreational and medical uses. CBP officers turned the traveler and marijuana over to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police, resulting in him facing narcotics possession charges.
“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. “Every day, CBP officers diligently inspect international travelers and cargo at Dulles Airport in our continuing hunt for dangerous and illegal products that could potentially harm our citizens and our communities.”
According to a news release, CBP officers and agents seized an average of 4,732 pounds of dangerous drugs every day at the nation’s air, land and sea ports of entry.