HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A woman and man are accused of flying from California to Houston with more than 66 pounds of pot.
Officials said Naureen Nooralla Gheewalla-Fayyaz, 28, and Fayyaz Osama, of Richmond, were seen checking several bags when they were leaving a Sacramento airport on Jan. 14.
After a search warrant was obtained, officials at Bush Intercontinental Airport searched the bags and found 66.3 pounds of what is believed to be marijuana, a record book of what is believed to be drug ledgers and a yellow note pad with what is believed to be drug ledgers, according to court documents.
On the day Gheewalla-Fayyaz and Fayyaz left Sacramento, a Transportation Security Administration officer told a Sacramento deputy that they saw what was believed to be marijuana in one of the suitcases, according to court records.
The deputy in Sacramento provided Houston officials with the bag's tag number and Gheewalla-Fayyaz's name because she checked the bag in question, court documents said.
Police officers waited at the gate in Houston for the flight to land and watched Fayyaz pull two suitcases off the baggage claim carousel. When he grabbed the suitcases, officers approached him and asked about the bags contents and if he owned the bags. Officials said he denied owning the bags, but he was "visibly nervous and was trembling," according to court documents.
Officials said Gheewalla-Fayyaz was sitting nearby. When officials asked her if the bags belonged to her, she said they did, according to court documents.
When officials asked to search the bags, she refused, court documents said. She also denied knowing what was inside the bags, officials said.
A search warrant was obtained and the seven bags were checked and the "green leafy substance believed to be marijuana," was found, according to court documents.
Gheewalla-Fayyaz and Fayyaz were previously arrested in Jefferson County for possession of marijuana, court records indicate.