Undercover Orlando Police Department officers and drug-sniffing K-9s intercepted more than 200 pounds of marijuana shipped on commercial flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Orlando International Airport (MCO) this summer, according to police records obtained by FOX 35 Orlando.
The seizures came in two separate incidents. On May 7, officers found 57.6 pounds of marijuana packed inside 50 vacuum-sealed bags, wrapped in blankets and stuffed with dryer sheets meant to mask the smell. On July 1, a second bust turned up 144.4 pounds of marijuana hidden in suitcases whose locks had been glued shut.
Investigators said the suspects also used superglue and torn-off luggage tags in an apparent attempt to evade detection. FOX 35 identified the individuals involved as people in their 20s who now face felony drug trafficking charges.
Keith Jeffries, vice president of K2 Security Screening Group and a former TSA federal security director at LAX who also served as deputy federal security director at MCO, told Fox News Digital that drug smuggling aboard commercial flights “can happen in multiple ways,” including through complicit airport or airline employees or the use of drug mules. He said it remains unclear exactly how the marijuana made it onto the flights in these cases, and that law enforcement may have acted on a tip from a confidential informant.
“It’s unknown at this time without talking to law enforcement and getting the specifics,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries noted that trafficking “can happen on any domestic route — and it does,” but said Orlando’s status as a major tourist hub may make it a particular target.
“The illegal perpetrators in this [situation] may think and believe that, well, the security must be lax there, which is not the case,” Jeffries said.
He also emphasized that the Transportation Security Administration’s screening mandate is narrowly focused on threats to aviation safety, not narcotics enforcement.
“TSA does not look for illegal narcotics,” Jeffries said. “They simply say, ‘We’ve got an unknown substance, and we need law enforcement’s attention so that law enforcement can validate what it is or is not.'”
He added that TSA’s administrative search authority is “very, very narrow and very specific.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Orlando Police Department for additional information.
The Orlando seizures come amid a string of unusual discoveries by TSA officers at airports nationwide in recent weeks. Earlier this month, officers at Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas found a pocketknife concealed inside a tube of toothpaste during routine carry-on screening. In Tampa, screeners recently discovered a 4-inch, double-edged knife hidden inside a baseball-bat-shaped flashlight.
