ST. LOUIS – Customs officers at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport arrested a woman Wednesday who was caught attempting to travel to Germany with more than 40 pounds of marijuana.
A 31-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday before her flight from St. Louis was scheduled to leave for Frankfurt, Germany, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Shortly before the arrest, customs officers in Newark notified St. Louis of a woman who was a “subject of interest.” The woman was checked in for the flight, and customs officers conducted an inspection of her bags before they were set to be loaded onto the plane.
During the search, customs officers examined two suitcases and found 38 bundles of marijuana with a total weight of 43.5 pounds.
The woman was arrested on the spot, and the marijuana was turned over to the St. Louis Airport Police for further processing.
“The sharing of information between our officers was instrumental in stopping this traveler from transporting 43 pounds of marijuana internationally,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations for the U.S. Customs Chicago Field Office. “I commend the CBP officers in Newark and at Lambert for enforcing U.S. federal law, which prohibits the illegal distribution of marijuana.”
Federal law not only prohibits people from flying with cannabis products in the United States, but also forbids U.S. flyers from transporting it to other countries, regardless of international cannabis laws.
Customs officials did not disclose any potential motives behind the woman’s attempt to bring marijuana across country lines. It’s also unclear if criminal charges could be filed in this case.