SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Three Americans are arrested on a weekly basis in Tijuana for smoking or carrying marijuana, according to police in that city.
Some are also detained at the border when trying to smuggle pot into Mexico, says Alejandro Robles Segura, head of Mexican Customs in Tijuana.
“We’ve had situations where average citizens, those not connected with organized crime or drug cartels are stopped with marijuana,” said Robles Segura. “They are young people who have double citizenship or can cross the border legally, and when they come back from the U.S., they have marijuana on them that they bought legally in California.”
Robles Segura is warning people that it’s not just marijuana that’s illegal, but vaping products with THC.
“If they cross the border with marijuana products, pot cigarettes or a kilo of it, people will be issued 80,000 peso fines, ($4,200), it’s illegal to import this type of merchandise, they’re also subject to incarceration.”
Recently, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to fine people with less than five grams of marijuana if it’s for personal use, but Robles Segura says it does not apply for “importing” cannabis.
