Massive O'Hare Drug Bust: Couple Traveling With 72 Pounds Of Hashish, Officials Say

CHICAGO — A couple flying from Los Angeles to Sao Paulo was detained at Chicago O’Hare International Airport after authorities discovered 72 pounds of marijuana hashish in their luggage, along with ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine, officials said.

The pair was catching a connecting flight on July 24 in Chicago when they were selected for outbound passenger enforcement exams by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to authorities.

In the woman’s luggage, officers found 37 pounds of marijuana hashish, authorities said, while the man’s luggage had 35 pounds of hashish as well as 28 grams of marijuana, 1.42 grams of ecstasy, 0.9 grams of ketamine and 0.8 grams of cocaine.

“These individuals believed they were going to easily slip by CBP’s watchful eye — they were wrong,” LaFonda Sutton-Burke, director of field operations for the agency’s Chicago field office, said in a news release. “Unfortunately, this is a method of smuggling we continue to encounter with narcotic traffickers and there are consequences for their actions.”