U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Monday that its officers at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, thwarted an attempt to smuggle a cache of marijuana worth nearly $5.2 million.
The seizure occurred on June 23 when an officer flagged a tractor hauling a commercial shipment for secondary inspection, according to a CBP press release.
The tractor was driven by a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, accompanied by a 33-year-old Mexican citizen. Both of them have been arrested, the agency stated.
CBP officers conducted a canine inspection and other examinations and found 98 packages containing about 2,323 pounds of alleged marijuana inside the trailer.
The agency seized both the tractor and trailer, as well as the drugs, which had a street value of $5,198,328.
“Frontline officers at the World Trade Bridge demonstrated exceptional effort in successfully disrupting this drug smuggling attempt,” Alberto Flores, port director for Laredo Port of Entry, said in a press release.
“This large drug bust is a prime example of the efficient targeting strategies utilized in the cargo environment to help combat the flow of narcotics seeping into our communities,” Mr. Flores said.
The Justice Department acknowledged the medical uses of marijuana, or cannabis, in a proposed rule it sent to the federal register while emphasizing the plant’s lower potential for abuse compared with other Schedule I drugs. By design, the Drug Enforcement Administration classifies drugs as Schedule I if the agency believes they have no medical value.
This followed a recommendation from the Department of Health and Human Services after President Joe Biden urged the agency to review the drug’s status in 2022.
While moving marijuana to Schedule III could affect future federal policy on the plant, drugs in that category are still considered controlled substances and subject to regulations. Anyone found guilty of selling them without proper authorization could still be federally prosecuted.
