A North Carolina CBD company is suing a private air carrier for $2 million over a shipment of hemp flowers that was seized and ultimately destroyed late last year.
We CBD, LLC, Raleigh, North Carolina, and We C Manage, LLC, a related Portland, Oregon Company, sued Planet Nine Private Air in Western North Carolina District of U.S. District Court, claiming an error in paperwork caused the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seize the shipment, 3,200 pounds of hemp, that was headed for Zurich, Switzerland.
In plain sight
The private jet, loaded with the hemp packaged in 44-pound duffel bags, was interrupted during a fuel stop in Charlotte, N.C. The lawsuit claims that a baggage and cargo declaration submitted to the federal government was left entirely blank.
“Before the plane was able to depart from Charlotte, CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) detained and inspected the aircraft . . . CBP could visibly see from a distance, through the windows of the aircraft sitting on the tarmac, that there was cargo in the plane,“ Charlotte lawyer William Terpening, representing We CBD, told the Medford, Oregon, Mail Tribune.
Negligence claim
Terpening said Planet Nine should have known the cargo documents had to be filed at least two hours before departure. We CBD claims that the air carrier’s negligence caused the government to refuse to return, and then destroy, the shipment.
We CBD has also filed suit against the U.S. Customs regarding the seizure of the hemp load. The agency said 2,880 pounds of the hemp tested was over the limit of 0.3% THC; the additional 548.22 pounds was found to be under 0.3% THC content, and therefore legal.
But We CBD has disputed that finding, noting the customs agency has failed to demonstrate the material was not THC compliant.
