St. Louis CBP Officers Intercept Attempt to Smuggle 43 Pounds of Marijuana on International Flight

A woman attempting to board a flight to Germany from Lambert International Airport in St. Louis was apprehended on May 14 after authorities discovered more than 43 pounds of marijuana in her luggage. The arrest followed a tip from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Newark, who had flagged the passenger as a person of interest prior to her international departure.

Before her luggage could be loaded onto the plane bound for Frankfurt, CBP officers in St. Louis conducted an inspection of the traveler’s two suitcases. Inside, they found 38 bundled packages of marijuana, totaling 43.5 pounds. The passenger, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen, was immediately taken into custody.

Following the discovery, both the individual and the illegal narcotics were handed over to the St. Louis Airport Police Department for further investigation and processing. The incident underscores the importance of inter-agency cooperation and information-sharing in preventing international drug trafficking efforts.

The enforcement effort was part of CBP’s broader border security operations, which are carried out at 328 official ports of entry nationwide. Officers in the Office of Field Operations play a central role in preventing the illegal transport of controlled substances across U.S. borders, whether by land, sea, or air.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release.

---