Patriot Act Invoked in Marijuana Smuggling Case August 17, 2004
News Summary
The anti-terrorism Patriot Act was used by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg in Seattle, Wash., to charge 15 people who were smuggling marijuana money from the U.S. to Canada, the Seattle Times reported July 30.An undercover agent revealed a multimillion-dollar drug operation in Canada. For nearly a year, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent worked undercover with smugglers who sold marijuana in the U.S. and delivered $3.4 million from sales illegally into British Columbia.
"From our perspective, the significance is the amount of money and the length of time this went on," Greenberg said.
Fifteen people from Washington and Canada who were charged with bulk-cash smuggling under the Patriot Act had their cases heard this week in U.S. District Court. Nine others were charged with international money laundering and marijuana trafficking under a separate law.
Although it has always been illegal to take more than $10,000 out of the country without reporting it, the Patriot Act tightened the law and, according to Greenberg, "took it out of just being a reporting violation to be a smuggling, trafficking type of offense."
The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and the forfeiture of the illegally transported money.
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