Cannabis Smuggling Arrests Increased 166 Percent at LAX
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]C[/dropcap]annabis smuggling arrests increased by 166 percent at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) since California legalized recreational cannabis.
In 2018, LAX police made 101 smuggling arrests, a big increase over the 38 arrests in 2017 and the 20 arrests in 2016. According to California law, travelers going through LAX are allowed to possess 28.5 grams of cannabis and eight grams of concentrate for personal consumption. However, cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, meaning the federal government and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) still prohibit interstate travel with cannabis.
The increase in arrests is due to people trying to take cannabis from the saturated California market to other states, where cannabis consumers will pay a higher price for the fabled California cannabis. In a 2017 paper, researchers from the University of California Agricultural Issues Center estimated 80 percent of the cannabis grown in California is illegally shipped out of the state.
“Since pot’s been legalized in California, there’s no money to be made because everyone got involved in it,” said Bill Kroger Jr., a veteran criminal defense lawyer who specializes in cannabis cases. “They’ve got these big 50,000-square-foot [grow] houses, and they’re flooding the market. The money is outside of California.”
In addition to travelers carrying their cannabis, airports are seeing more checked bags stuffed full of cannabis. Police at other airports in the state are also seeing an increase in passengers attempting to travel with large amounts of cannabis.
“We intercept large quantities of marijuana regularly,” said Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Oakland International Airport. “We find it in about 50-pound quantities . . . the carry-on rate for luggage. I would imagine we’re only intercepting some of it, not all of it.”
A few airports across the country, including in Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada have installed amnesty boxes that allow travelers to dispose of their cannabis before getting on a flight.
