While cannabis has been legal in Canada for over a year now, American authorities are using the arrest of two Canadians as an opportunity to remind pot enthusiasts that it remains an illegal substance in the U.S. 

Two Canadian travellers, a 20 year-old male and a 20 year-old female, were arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency at Pearson International Airport in Toronto earlier this month for allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 18 kilograms of marijuana into Miami. 

According to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officers identified 42 wrapped packages of marijuana in the checked baggage of the two travelers bound for Miami International Airport.

The drugs weighed 39.44 pounds (17.89 kilograms) and are worth nearly $132,400.

Last week, #CBPPreclearance officers at @TorontoPearson intercepted nearly 40lbs of marijuana in the checked baggage of 2 travelers bound for Miami. Details: https://t.co/rtl5X8KRm1 pic.twitter.com/CBioF00Gd4

— CBP (@CBP) December 23, 2019

According to Canadian law, the maximum amount of cannabis Canadians are allowed to carry in public is 30 grams, which is about 0.15 per cent of the amount the travelers were carrying.

"This seizure demonstrates the security value of Preclearance operations and our international partnerships," Clint Lamm, Director of the CBP Preclearance Field Office, said in the release. 

"By working with excellent partners like CBSA, we are able to stop criminal activity at the earliest possible point in the travel continuum."

U.S. border patrol is reminding travellers that "the possession, production, distribution and sale of marijuana and the facilitation thereof remain illegal under U.S. federal law," and that  "crossing the border or arriving at a U.S. port of entry in violation of this law may result in denied admission, seizure, fines and arrest."

"Although the Government of Canada has legalized the possession of limited quantities of marijuana, taking marijuana across Canadian borders remains illegal," the release notes.