Scuba Diver Caught Swimming Marijuana into US - East Idaho News
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Scuba Diver Caught Swimming Marijuana into US

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HT marijuana st clair river lpl 130821 16x9 608?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1377109151490US Border Patrol(MARINE CITY, Mich.) — United States Border Patrol arrested a man this week for his alleged effort to smuggle eight pounds of marijuana into the country.  

The Canadian scuba diver was caught near Marine City, Mich., after crossing St. Clair River.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the incident occurred Monday at 1 a.m., when a citizen called Saint Clair County Police to report an individual swimming across the river. Camera operators were able to remotely locate the man in the river and reported that “the subject appeared to be pulling a ‘dry bag’” typically used by divers.

The Canadian swam between half a mile and 3/4 of a mile before coming ashore near Marine City, says Border Patrol Agent Jeoff Ramer.

“It’s quite the swim,” Ramer said. “We’ve had people bring marijuana across in other ways, boats and the like. But I’d never heard of a scuba diver trying before this.”

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agents who apprehended the swimmer found him carrying “a large watertight PVC cylinder holding over 8 lbs of marijuana.” That’s about 128 ounces.

The 2008 Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, the only Michigan law to condone any pot use, states that patients may only possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana at any given time.

The unnamed swimmer is in the custody of St. Clair County Drug Task Force. Ramer says he will be charged Wednesday.

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