It hasn’t even been two weeks since I brought you news about all of the Ford Fusions that were found with $1 million worth of pot stashed in the trunks, and yet, here we are again, talking about Ford and that sweet cheeba. In the last load of pot caught making its way over the border, smugglers had fashioned it into the shape of spare tires and stashed them away in the trunk. It wasn’t until a Ford dealership went through the usual new-delivery inspection process that the weed was discovered. Those cars, which were predominantly Ford Fusions, had made it all the way to Ohio and Pennsylvania, but this time, the green stuff didn’t even make it out of Fords Shipping yard as it was stashed in the rail cars and was found by Ford employees at the rail distribution facility in Woodhaven, Michigan.

All told, the Ford employees found a couple of bundles in one of the rail cars and immediately called the authorities. Upon extensive searching by ICE agents, a total of 277 pounds of marijuana was found in the rail car and a total of 200 vehicles. There’s no word as to what models were actually on the rail car this time around, but it seems to me that it was either Ford Fusions, Lincoln MKZs, or Ford Fiestas, as those are the main U.S. market vehicles build in Mexico at the moment. It’s more than likely that this attempt to smuggle drugs is connected to the same smuggling attempts from earlier this month. According to Ford, they are working and cooperating as much as possible with federal authorities, but one really has to question: Is this an outside job, or is someone at Ford double dipping and taking advantage of Fords shipping system?

What is Going on at Ford?

In a story ran by the Detroit Free Press, Ford Spokeswoman, Kelli Felker, said, “We are taking this very seriously. We are working closely with a number of law enforcement agencies on this investigation, including the FBI, Customs, Department of Homeland Security and local police. We cannot comment further as this is an active investigation.”

That’s a nice sentiment and all, but one thing is clear. There’s either a serious lack of security at Ford’s shipping yards in Mexico, someone is on the drug smugglers payroll, or this is an internal operation that Ford has been hiding quite well thus far. I mean after all, if it is an inside job, the best thing the smugglers can do is hide and plain sight and cooperate as much as possible. Besides, the people that sit at the top probably won’t get caught anyway, as it’s always the guys doing to legwork that really get railed by the authorities, and they are usually paid well enough that they don’t snitch.

If it’s not an inside job, Ford should probably consider changing up its crewmen working in the shipping yards, as if it’s not coming from inside Ford, there’s only one other place it can come from, and someone is letting it in. Why these changes weren’t made when the last smuggling attempt was foiled is beyond me, but I guess that’s how it goes.

It’s Only Pot

What’s really surprising to me is how big of a deal this really is. First off, Marijuana is on the brink of being decriminalized anyway and is legal for medicinal purposes in a number of states as well as recreational in a few. Sure, this pot is probably on its way to somewhere where it’s still a black-market-only item, but still, weed isn’t that hard to come by these days, and most people here in the U.S. are more interested in the high-end stuff you can get as opposed to mass-grown Mexican swag. Sure, it’s still federally illegal and there is a moral standpoint against smuggling it into the U.S., but it’s not that big of a deal – pot doesn’t ruin lives unless you get caught with it. ICE agents should be focused more on the cocaine and heroin that makes its way into the states, but that’s just my lonely opinion. And, no, I’m not a pot head, by the way.

With that said, what do you think about all of this? Is this some massive conspiracy controlled by some high-ranking Ford employee with a number of lesser employees on his payroll? Or is this really an outside job with just a few people inside Ford working under the radar? If you found a rail car full of pot would you report it or try to keep some for yourself first? Let us know in the comments section below.

References

Read our full review on the 2017 Ford Fusion.

Read our full review on the 2017 Lincoln MKZ.