SAN FRANCISCO—Two United Airlines employees who worked at the San Francisco International Airport are being accused of running a year-long scheme to steal marijuana from passengers’ baggage and selling it themselves. The U.S. Department of Justice charged the two baggage handlers with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance on June 9.
Joel Lamont Dunn, who was said to have been the lead organizer of the scheme, and Adrian Webb, who was described as Dunn’s “right hand man,” allegedly brought in up to three other airport employees to help steal marijuana starting in 2020 and put the drugs in multiple “15-20 gallon trash bags” before transferring the bags to their personal vehicles.
Dunn offered up to $2,000 per shift when the employees helped with the scheme, sometimes totaling $10,000 a week.
In June 2021, the two were robbed at gunpoint at the airport’s employee parking lot after rumors about their scheme spread. The suspect who robbed them got away with an undisclosed amount of marijuana. Dunn and Webb reported the robbery to police but did not mention the marijuana involved.
The FBI were assisted by an informant who was involved in the scheme. The informant was said to have received up to $2,000 per shift to help Dunn and Webb in their scheme totaling to about $10,000 per week.
This informant initially lied about being present the day of the robbery. An FBI special agent vouched for the informant, writing that the information provided was reliable “because of my training and experience, the corroborating information described in this affidavit, and other information I have learned in this investigation.”
Both Dunn and Webb have been released from jail while the charges are pending, on bonds totaling $75,000 and $50,000 respectively.
A trial date has yet to be set.
