Boston, MA – November 18: Passengers use the pedestrian bridge to access Terminal C at Boston Logan International Airport in Boston on November 18, 2021. Terminal C has a new canopy outside, at the curbside pickup area, that is supposed to protect people from the elements while still letting in some natural light. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Massachusetts prosecutors say a Michigan woman tried to take an international flight from Boston with 74 pounds of marijuana.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office says 28-year-old Nalexus Palmer of Clinton Township was arrested Saturday night at Logan International Airport. She was allegedly trying to transport hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cannabis on a flight to London.
U.S. Customs and Border Protections told Massachusetts State Police around 9 p.m. Saturday that it had seized two large suitcases filled with vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana and an Apple AirTag, according to prosecutors.
The district attorney's office said Palmer had previously flown from Detroit to Boston, but it did not say whether she is accused of bringing the marijuana on that flight.
Possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal in Massachusetts and Michigan, but it remains illegal in the U.K., where Bay State authorities estimate 74 pounds would be valued at about $370,000.
Massachusetts law allows people over 21 to have up to 10 ounces of marijuana in their homes, but only to carry up to an ounce in public — Palmer is accused of carrying more than 1,100 times that amount.
"While laws regarding simple possession in Michigan, Massachusetts and many other states may have changed, laws regarding marijuana trafficking haven't, and anyone thinking they can move large quantities across state or international lines is taking a major risk," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "This defendant discovered that very quickly over the weekend."
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According to Hayden's office, Palmer told police she didn't know what was in the bags, which she said an unknown woman dropped off to her Saturday.
"She said a man had organized the drop off but that she did not know the man's name," the district attorney's office said in a press release. "She said she met the man four years ago in Atlanta and that he has provided her with money through Zelle and Cash App. She said the man was going to give her money for a car when she arrived in London."
Palmer appeared in Boston Municipal Court's East Boston Division to face a charge of trafficking marijuana between 50 and 100 pounds. She was ordered held on $3,000 bail, prosecutors said. Judge Debra DelVecchio also required her to surrender her passport and stay away from Logan Airport with the exception of legitimate travel.
Palmer is due back in court May 24 for a probable cause hearing. It was not immediately clear if she had an attorney.
