A 34-year-old United States national has been fined $1,000 after pleading guilty to possession of cannabis following his arrest at V.C. Bird International Airport last weekend.

Fady Aziz Saloum’s troubles began on March 7th, when a police drug-detection dog alerted officers to a black suitcase belonging to him after he arrived on United Airlines Flight 2020 from Pennsylvania.

The joint operation, involving officers from the Narcotics Department, the K-9 Unit and the Customs Enforcement Unit, was underway at the airport at around 4:30 in the afternoon when the dog made the find.

A search of the luggage uncovered 23 pre-wrapped cannabis joints and a blue zip-lock bag containing a substance consistent with cannabis, with both items weighing a combined 56 grams. Saloum was taken to Police Headquarters where he was charged and the substances formally seized.

He appeared before Chief Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel this morning, where the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to possession and withdrew a separate charge of importation.

He was ordered to pay the fine within 30 days or serve 30 days in prison. The cannabis was confiscated, and the Chief Magistrate warned him to familiarise himself with the laws of any country before travelling.

During the hearing, the court was told that Saloum holds a United States medical cannabis card, which he uses to manage anxiety and back pain.

However, the card carries no legal standing in Antigua and Barbuda.