Report: Jacksonville man caught flying into OIA with nearly 50 lbs of marijuana hidden in luggage

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Jacksonville man is in the Orange County jail, accused of flying in to Orlando International Airport with nearly 50 pounds of marijuana hidden in his luggage.

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The investigation started early on the morning of Jan. 3 with the arrival of a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles.

According to the Orlando Police Department, officers with their airport unit deployed a drug detection dog to conduct a “sniff” of the luggage from the flight.

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The officers noted that Los Angeles is a known “source city” for drug trafficking.

According to an incident report, the dogs gave a positive alert to the presence of the smell of illegal drugs coming from two separate suitcases with the same name on them.

The officers relayed a description of the suitcases to other plain-clothes officers who were stationed at baggage claim for the flight

They watched as an unidentified man removed the bags from the luggage carousel and handed them to a second man, later identified as 31-year-old Jacque Jordan.

Officers stopped Jordan with the suitcases as he made his way towards the vehicle pick-up area.

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According to police, when asked for consent to search the suitcases, Jordan replied “you can go ahead and search.”

The report says Jordan watched as officers opened the suitcases to find 18 vacuum-sealed bags in each one containing a green leafy substance later confirmed to be cannabis.

According to police, the vacuum-sealed bags had sheets and towels wrapped around them.

In all, police say the 36 vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis weighed approximately 47.2 pounds.

Jordan was booked into the Orange County jail Thursday on charges of trafficking in more than 25 pounds of cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to sell or deliver, and conspiracy to import cannabis into the state.

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Jordan remains in jail on a total of $31,000 bond.

According to police, the cannabis was packaged and entered into the Orlando Police Department’s property and evidence department.

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