United Airlines caught two of their cargo handlers robbing illicit pot stashes from luggage for fun and profit. What were their victims going to do, call the cops? They would probably still be getting away with it if they weren’t so sloppy.
Pot confiscation scheme
So you stashed your pot in your suitcase, hoping to avoid getting caught by the TSA. The good news is you aren’t going to jail for smuggling cannabis through security. The bad news is you won’t have your stash when you get to your destination. Most would simply shrug it off as a fair exchange and buy more.
According to the news reports, the scheme to “steal marijuana from departing passengers’ luggage” has been going on for years. After collecting all the grass they trimmed, the agents peddled it on the streets, raking in “as much as $10,000 per week.”
Joel Lamont Dunn was described as “the mastermind” behind the pot snatching scheme and Adrian Webb his “right hand man.” Other cargo agents at the San Francisco International Airport were in on the operation as well.
Joel Lamont Dunn was described as the mastermind and Adrian Webb his “right hand man” behind the brazen ring involving other cargo agents at the airport, according to a criminal complaint filed with the US District Court of Northern California on June 9.https://t.co/UEIDI15N0L
— SCHNIKA P MCKISSIC (SCH) (@itsalwaysSun_E) June 17, 2023
A criminal indictment was filed June 9 in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. They got busted by a rat in their crew who apparently rolled over to save himself.
As noted by the FBI, an informant with “knowledge of the conspiracy to steal marijuana” was “working alongside Dunn and Webb as a ramp cargo agent when the alleged scheme was hatched in 2020.”
That’s when Dunn offered the opportunity to hijack pot from the passengers as their bags moved through SFO.
$2,000 cash per shift
The money was hard to ignore. It seems that pot smoking passengers have quietly been moving tons of the stuff around in their suitcases. The rat “was paid around $2,000 in cash per shift.” For starters. They could make more “if large quantities were taken that day.”
Authorities are astounded at how “such vast amounts of marijuana” are making it through airport security. Especially, since these figures represent the flow through only one airport.
When Dunn wasn’t around, Webb “gave directions” on what to do with the pot harvest for the day. Both were charged with “conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.” They’re already out on bond. “Dunn’s bail was set $75,000 and Webb’s at $50,00, court records show. A trial date has not yet been set.”
Joel Lamont Dunn & Adrian Webb, who were @united ramp cargo workers at @flySFO, charged by @USAO_NDCA w/conspiring to steal marijuana from checked baggage – but at one point, they themselves were robbed at gunpoint of pot in the airport employee parking lot, per @FBISanFrancisco pic.twitter.com/jBfqy6fXZO
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) June 18, 2023
The feds say they wouldn’t have a clue if it hadn’t been for rats. “Federal agents relied on informants who revealed details of the theft ring that was operating out of San Francisco International Airport.”
Everything was going fine and dandy until Dunn and Webb were “robbed at gunpoint in the employee parking lot of SFO near their personal vehicles.” robbing the robbers of the pot they stole is part of the business. It’s called the “smuggler’s blues.”
They didn’t bother reporting the incident but the airline’s security team watched it on the cameras. “Video surveillance footage from shortly before the robbery shows Dunn, Webb, and other employees ‘move black trash bags out of the secure area airport, consistent with the marijuana theft scheme,’ according to the criminal complaint.“
