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As coronavirus continues to turn airports into high security clean zones where face masks have quickly become the norm, police officers at JFK were able to reserve their resources for some cannabis interdiction. 

According to the New York Post, a US Customs and Border Patrol team discovered 10 pounds of vacuum-sealed cannabis packed in a black suitcase destined for the island of Barbados. Once x-ray screening and drug sniffing dogs confirmed the presence of pot, cops quickly arrested the owner of the luggage, 33-year-old Shakira Millar, before she could board her Caribbean-bound flight.

In America’s new era of state-specific cannabis legalization, commercial airliners have quickly joined postal and truck routes as a favored method of black market distribution. But unlike Millar’s recent attempt to smuggle product, most stories of carry-on cannabis concern domestic travel, where luggage is subject only to TSA search, and not scrutiny by Customs.

After her arrest, Millar was charged with criminal cannabis possession and was released on her own recognizance after an initial hearing. 

So if you’re thinking about using the coronavirus pandemic as a distraction to sneak your black market packs past border agents or TSA, just know that airport security isn’t all face masks and hand sanitizers. If anything, they’re operating at more sensitive levels than in past months or years. 

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