A massive marijuana shipment bound for Europe was intercepted at the Port of Baltimore after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered more than 10,000 pounds of the drug hidden inside a shipping container.
According to , CBP officers seized about five tons of marijuana on May 29 after inspecting a 40-foot shipping container that had been shipped from Nassau County, New York, and was destined for Liverpool, England. The cargo was manifested as men’s cotton and nylon shirts.
Instead, officers found 238 boxes filled with vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana, authorities said. CBP’s narcotics detection dog Letti, a 2-year-old German shepherd, alerted officers to the shipment.
Authorities said the marijuana weighed 4,815 kilograms, or 10,615 pounds, with an estimated street value of $24 million in the United States. Officials said it could be worth about twice that amount in Europe.
“This is a recklessly brazen attempt to smuggle over five tons of marijuana through Baltimore to Europe, and an incredible effort by exceptionally professional Customs and Border Protection officers to intercept it,” said Adam Rottman, CBP’s area port director in Baltimore.
Rottman said transnational criminal organizations continue targeting European markets because of the high profits they expect to earn from marijuana sales overseas.
No arrests have been made. The investigation remains ongoing and is being led by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations.
“This scheme to move multi-ton drug loads through commercial cargo channels represents an abuse of the same infrastructure that supports legitimate trade, drives up security and inspection costs, and places an additional burden on the communities that depend on these ports,” said Akil Baldwin, special agent in charge of HSI Maryland.
CBP officials said they continue to see criminal organizations attempt to transport marijuana to Europe through commercial cargo, express air delivery services and passenger baggage, where higher prices can generate significantly larger profits than in the United States.
The Baltimore seizure follows several recent marijuana interdictions, including 57 pounds found in passenger baggage bound for London at Washington Dulles International Airport, 247 pounds in four London-bound shipments at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and 97 pounds in separate shipments destined for London and Frankfurt from Philadelphia International Airport.
Nationwide, CBP officers and agents seized about 185,000 pounds of marijuana during fiscal year 2025 and have already seized about 190,000 pounds during the first seven months of fiscal year 2026, according to the agency.
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