Woman Arrested At St. Louis Airport With 43 Pounds Of Marijuana In Luggage Bound For Germany

A woman was arrested this week after more than 40 pounds of marijuana was allegedly found in her luggage at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri, officials said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the airport were notified by CBP officers in Newark that a passenger scheduled to depart the U.S. was a “subject of interest.” The 31-year-old woman, a U.S. citizen, was ticketed to depart St. Louis on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, on May 14.

Before the woman’s two suitcases were loaded onto the aircraft, CBP officers inspected the bags and found 38 bundles of marijuana weighing a total of 43.5 pounds.

The woman and the marijuana were turned over to St. Louis Airport Police.

“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, 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.”

CBP said it has seen an uptick in attempted marijuana exports, through both airports and international cargo facilities, to destinations across Europe and Africa. The agency said marijuana produced in the U.S. can fetch two to three times as much money in Europe and Africa.

While marijuana is legal or decriminalized for medical and/or recreational use in a number of U.S. states, federal law continues to prohibit transporting marijuana across state lines or exporting it from the United States.