1,300 pounds of pot almost got past the Texas/Mexico border. Here's how it all went down.
United States Custom and Border Control officials announced Monday that they seized over 1,300 pounds of pot last week at the Del Rio Port of Entry. According to officials, the enormous stash of illegal cannabis came from Mexico through Texas, ultimately bound for St. Louis, Missouri.
The officials said they found the mountainous haul hidden in a commercial trailer on it’s way to Missouri. Drug-sniffing canines and non-intrusive imaging equipment uncovered the smuggled goods. The 1,300 pounds of pot were embedded in a shipment of silica sand.
Alberto D. Perez, the Port Director of Del Rio Port of Entry, lauded his staff for its findings.
“Smugglers go to great lengths to get their illicit products into the U.S.,” said Perez. “The training, experience and dedication of our frontline CBP officers has prevented yet another load of contraband from reaching our communities.”
People have been smuggling weed over the U.S. Mexican border for some time now and it appears the decades-long practice isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, perpetrators just find more and more creative ways to get the job done.
For example, this past June, nearly two tons of cannabis disguised as lettuce almost made its way over the Mexican border, until the U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the incredible discovery: a whopping 5,754 packages of lettuce found to contain illicitly smuggled cannabis.
“This is truly an example of our CBP officers’ hard work, experience and dedication to the CBP mission,” Port Director Gregory Alvarez said at the time.
Back in February, another bizarre incident at the border occurred. Interestingly enough, produce also played a role.
In this case, Border agents discovered close to 4,000 pounds of weed disguised as limes at the Texas-Mexico border near the Gulf of Mexico. Port Director Efrain Solis Jr. also lauded his staff for the arduous discovery.
“This is an outstanding interception of narcotics. Our CBP officers continue to excel in their knowledge of smuggling techniques, which allows them to intercept these kinds of attempts to introduce narcotics into our country,” said Solis Jr. in a statement.
Undoubtedly, Border Control has a tough job nabbing would-be smugglers on a day-to-day basis. However, it’s fair to wonder whether or not some of these incidents could be avoided altogether with one major change.
And no, we’re not talking about Trump’s wall.
We’re talking about a federal legalization of cannabis. If pot were to be fully legalized, it’s interesting to see the effect it would have on black market sales. While it’s unlikely it will completely dissolve illicit sales, it should make a sizeable dent. Especially if sold at a competitive price.
Canada, which is set to fully legalize cannabis in July, is currently making efforts to squash black market sales by creating a government-sanctioned monopoly. Reportedly, Ontario is willing to sell its product for as low as $8 a gram to compete with the incumbent black market. However, critics argue it won’t be able to phase out illicit sales entirely.
Regardless, there’s only one real way to know for sure.
Legalize it.
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