Authorities say a California traveler’s trip to London ended before it began on Tuesday, after officers at Miami International Airport popped open his checked bag and say they found it packed with pot.
According to an arrest report, 23-year-old Jeremiah King Salas of Perris, California, was stopped at the gate area for an outbound international flight and linked to a Samsonite suitcase tagged in his name. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say that when they opened the luggage, they discovered multiple vacuum-sealed bundles that later tested positive for marijuana and weighed 16.48 kilograms, or just over 36 pounds, as reported by NBC6 South Florida.
String of Big Outbound Drug Busts at MIA
Salas’ arrest is the latest in a recent run of hefty outbound seizures at Miami International. Earlier this month, officers uncovered about 75 pounds of marijuana stashed in checked luggage, according to Local10. And in February, a separate case saw two travelers allegedly trying to get out of Miami with suitcases loaded with weed and hashish, a bust detailed in Hoodline’s report Cali Duo Busted.
Trafficking Threshold Kicks In Over 25 Pounds
Florida law does not treat that kind of weight as simple possession. State statute defines possession of more than 25 pounds of cannabis as trafficking, a first-degree felony. For amounts above that threshold, the law imposes a mandatory minimum of three years in prison and a $25,000 fine, according to the Florida Senate website. If the reported 36-pound haul is confirmed in court, it would clear that line by a wide margin.
Customs officers told investigators they had increased outbound inspections in response to what they described as a recent “high trend” of narcotics moving on international flights. The arrest report states that Salas was taken into custody following the seizure and booked locally while the case undergoes review. The same report notes it is not yet clear whether federal prosecutors will bring their own charges, according to NBC6 South Florida.
