SAN FRANCISCO — For years, a group of cargo agents allegedly worked together to steal massive amounts of marijuana from checked bags, in amounts so high some of the participants were reportedly paid $10,000 per week for the thefts.
But in June 2021, the conspirators learned the hard way that word of their scheme had gotten around, when two of them were robbed at gunpoint for an undisclosed amount of marijuana at the San Francisco International Airport’s employee parking lot. Seventeen months later, they got another wakeup call; another co-conspirator was stopped in the airport’s parking garage while transporting 30 pounds of marijuana, but this time by the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.
Now, the two men accused of leading the operating, Joel Lamont Dunn and Adrian Webb, are facing federal charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. According to the criminal complaint, Dunn, Webb and other cargo agents — all employed by United Airlines — began stealing marijuana from baggage in 2020, in such large amounts they were regularly able to fill 15-20 gallon bags.
The FBI’s allegations raise an interesting question: If marijuana was so readily available for the taking by this bunch, just how much is regularly smuggled out of state to other cities via commercial airlines, and how much other contraband slips past security agents? At any rate, the FBI alleges that Dunn paid other co-conspirators $2,000 to $10,000 per week, depending on how much marijuana they were able to take.
The complaint describes Webb as Dunn’s “right hand man” and Dunn as the leader of the conspiracy. It says that on June 8, 2021, the two were robbed at gunpoint shortly after moving black trash bags from the airport into their cars. In October 2022, a person known in court documents only as “Individual-1,” who was part of the conspiracy, was arrested with bags containing 30 pounds of marijuana, prosecutors say.
The FBI was apparently well-aware of the scheme for months, thanks to a confidential informant who admitted to lying about whether he or she was on the job the day of the robbery, authorities say. Still, an FBI special agent vouched for the informant, writing that the information provided was reliable “because of my training and experience, the corroborating information described in this affidavit, and other information I have learned in this investigation.”
Both Dunn and Webb have been released from jail while the charges are pending, on bonds totaling $75,000 and $50,000 respectively, court records show. A trial date has not yet been set.
Source: www.mercurynews.com