Baltimore CBP Bags Bountiful Bud Bound for Belgium

BALTIMORE – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized over 200 pounds of marijuana in Baltimore on April 29 that was being shipped in air cargo to Belgium.

CBP officers discovered the marijuana concealed inside 155 vacuum-sealed packages manifested as “brace overalls for men / heavy duty workwear bib.”

The marijuana collectively weighed 91.3 kilograms, or 201 pounds and five ounces, and has a street value of about $875,000 in the United States. Depending on potency, this shipment could have fetched two to three times more in Europe.

CBP officers continue to observe a continuing trend of transnational criminal organizations attempting to ship United States-based marijuana to Europe and Africa where high-quality weed can fetch huge profits.

Despite some states decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, bulk smuggling remains illegal, and federal law prohibits transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States.

Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Border Enforcement Security Task Force are investigating. HSI is CBP’s investigative partner within the Department of Homeland Security. Follow @HSIBaltimore for breaking news from the HSI Field Office in Maryland.

“Smugglers, including transnational criminal organizations, based in oversaturated marijuana markets attempt to generate revenue by illegally exporting bulk shipments to markets across the globe,” said Jason Kropiewnicki, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director for the Area Port of Baltimore. “Customs and Border Protection officers are committed to enforcing our nation’s laws and interrupting these smuggling attempts to deprive criminals of their illicit profits.”

Every day, CBP officers and agents seized an average of 1,571 pounds of drugs last year at and between our nation’s air, sea, and land ports of entry. View CBP’s sortable enforcement stats, including seizures of specific dangerous drugs.

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.

Learn what CBP accomplished during "A Typical Day" in 2024. Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.

Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.