US Border officials seize Canadian cannabis destined for midwestern and southeastern US

| Morton Robertson

US border officials say they seized more than 900 kilograms of cannabis on a shipment of Canadian pork products destined for Texas, according to several media reports.

The shipment, originating in Brampton, Ontario, was hidden behind 21 other pallets of pork products. It was discovered at the Fort Street Cargo Facility in Detroit.

The shipment is just one of numerous large seizures in the past nine months since the US and Canada closed their mutual border to non-essential traffic. And in September, US official said they had captured more than 40,000 pounds of cannabis coming in from Canada since October 2019, valued at more than $90 million US.

A report in Freightwaves.com refers to court documents that say these types of shipments of cannabis from Canada into the US have been common in the last 20 years, and typically are destined for the US southeast or midwest.

“The distribution areas for this marijuana are typically in the midwestern and southeastern areas within the United States where large amounts of highly potent marijuana is difficult to purchase,” HSI Special Agent Brian Manns wrote in the criminal complaint.  “… Quality marijuana is extremely plentiful in areas such as southern Texas and Mexico where this commercial load was destined, and Canadian grown marijuana would not be a desired commodity in these areas.”

Although legal in several US states as well as in Canada, cannabis remains illegal under US law. Shipments of cannabis over the US border reman illegal.