U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport detained two U.S. citizens on July 24 as they attempted to board a connecting flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The pair had arrived from Los Angeles, California and were selected for outbound Passenger Enforcement Rover Team enforcement exams, a standard CBP procedure aimed at intercepting drug smuggling.
During the inspection, officers requested identification and checked bag receipts before detaining the travelers for a more thorough search. In the woman’s checked luggage, officers discovered a black vacuum-sealed bag containing a brick-sized brownish tar substance, which tested positive for marijuana hashish. The total amount found in her possession was 37 pounds. She later stated she did not know what was in the suitcase and only packed her carry-on luggage.
The man claimed ownership of both suitcases and his carry-on contained several substances: a green leafy material, two small clear bags with white powdery substances, and another small bag with one green pill and one red pill. Testing identified the powders as cocaine hydrochloride and ketamine hydrochloride; the pills tested positive for ecstasy. His checked luggage held two large vacuum-sealed bags with additional packages of hashish wrapped in t-shirts. Officers seized 35 pounds of marijuana hashish from his bags along with 28 grams of marijuana, 1.42 grams of ecstasy, .9 grams of ketamine, and .8 grams of cocaine.
“These individuals believed they were going to easily slip by CBP’s watchful eye – they were wrong,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director, Field Operations, Chicago Field Office. “Unfortunately, this is a method of smuggling we continue to encounter with narcotic traffickers and there are consequences for their actions.”
According to recent data from CBP’s enforcement statistics page (https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics), last month officers seized over 60,000 pounds of dangerous drugs at air, sea, and land ports across the country.
CBP states that its border security mission is carried out at Ports of Entry by officers who screen international travelers and cargo for illicit narcotics as well as other contraband that could threaten public safety or economic interests (https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry).
The agency employs more than 65,000 personnel tasked with protecting America’s borders through ground operations as well as monitoring airspace and maritime approaches (https://www.cbp.gov/about).
