More than 200 pounds of marijuana allegedly traveled on commercial flights from Los Angeles to Orlando International Airport (MCO) this summer before undercover officers seized the drugs in two separate airport investigations.
According to police records obtained by FOX 35 Orlando, suspects allegedly tried to transport large quantities of marijuana from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Central Florida.
The Orlando Police Department (OPD) intercepted the shipments with help from undercover officers and drug-detection K-9s, FOX 35 reported.
Investigators said the suspects used superglue, removed luggage tags and packed the bags with dryer sheets in an apparent effort to avoid detection and mask the smell of marijuana.
In the first seizure, on May 7, officers discovered 57.6 pounds of marijuana divided among 50 vacuum-sealed bags. The packages were wrapped in blankets and surrounded by dryer sheets, according to the report.
During the second bust, on July 1, police recovered 144.4 pounds of marijuana from suitcases whose locks had been completely sealed with glue.
FOX 35 reported that the suspects, described as people in their 20s, now face felony drug-trafficking charges.
Keith Jeffries, vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, told Fox News Digital that drug smuggling aboard commercial flights “can happen in multiple ways.”
Those methods could involve airport or airline employees helping smugglers, or the use of drug couriers, he said. However, Jeffries cautioned that it remains unknown how the marijuana was placed on the flights in these cases.
Jeffries said authorities also may have received information about specific passengers or bags from a confidential informant.
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“It’s unknown at this time without talking to law enforcement and getting the specifics,” he said.
Jeffries, a former TSA federal security director at LAX and deputy federal security director at MCO, said drug trafficking “can happen on any domestic route — and it does.”
He said Orlando’s reputation as a major tourist destination may make the city an appealing target for traffickers.
“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.
Jeffries also explained that Transportation Security Administration officers are not specifically tasked with searching for illegal drugs. If suspected narcotics are found during screening, the matter is referred to law enforcement.
“The TSA’s administrative search authority is very, very narrow and very specific,” Jeffries said.
“TSA does not look for illegal narcotics,” he added. “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.’”
Fox News Digital contacted the Orlando Police Department for additional information.
The marijuana shipments were stopped by local law enforcement, but TSA officers have reported other unusual discoveries during airport screenings in recent weeks.
Earlier in September, TSA officers at Dallas Love Field Airport in Texas found a pocketknife hidden inside a tube of toothpaste during a routine carry-on screening.
In Tampa, TSA officers recently discovered a 4-inch, double-edged knife concealed inside a baseball bat-shaped flashlight in a passenger’s carry-on bag.