An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  • Archived Content
    In an effort to keep CBP.gov current, the archive contains content from a previous administration or is otherwise outdated.
  1. Home
  2. Newsroom
  3. Local Media Release
  4. CBP, HSI in Tampa Intercept Marijuana Destined For France

CBP, HSI in Tampa Intercept Marijuana Destined For France

Release Date
Tue, 11/24/2015

TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers working in Tampa, Florida seized over seven pounds of marijuana found in a package destined to France. The package was set to depart the mail facility on Wednesday, November 11th.

Picture of marijuana hidden inside box headed for France

CBP intercepts marijuana headed to France

CBP officers selected the package for further examination where they discovered a marijuana-like substance surrounded by clear plastic and a yellow substance that appeared to be mustard. The officers contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa Bay Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) who took possession of the seizure and coordinated with HSI Attaché Paris to conduct a controlled delivery in Paris in conjunction with French Customs. This joint effort resulted in the criminal arrest of one individual in Paris and a second individual being sought by French authorities.

“The men and women of CBP work hard every day intercepting narcotics both inbound and outbound,” said Tampa Port Director Radames A. Torres. “This outbound seizure is an excellent example of CBP’s role in the larger international operation to combat drug smuggling.”

“Together with CBP and our international partners, HSI is working to make our nation and communities safer,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa.

The men and women of CBP are responsible for enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws and regulations. On a typical day, CBP welcomes nearly 1 million visitors, screens more than 67,000 cargo containers, arrests more than 1,100 individuals and seizes nearly 6 tons of illicit drugs.

Providing critical capabilities toward the whole-of-government approach, CBP works extensively with a variety of Federal, state, local, tribal, and international partners to address drug trafficking and other transnational threats along the Southwest border, Northern border, and coastal approaches.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Florida includes travel and trade facilitation and securing over 1,200 miles of the coastal border. Find out more and get real-time updates at @CBPFlorida on Twitter.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021