A Texas man allegedly attempted to fly home from Portland International Airport with more than 55 pounds of vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana stashed in his luggage in late November, court documents show.

The man later told authorities that a stranger at a Portland pot shop had offered him $1,000 to fly the marijuana to Houston, Texas, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Adam Joseph Cline, 28, was indicted Dec. 5 in Multnomah County Circuit Court on one felony count of unlawful importing and exporting of marijuana, court records show.

The documents allege that on Nov. 20, Cline was at the Portland International Airport for a flight to Houston, Texas, his hometown, when a TSA officer noticed something was amiss with Cline’s luggage.

Agent Oscar Melendez was scanning bags before loading them onto airplanes when one bag raised the scanner’s alarm -- organic substances allegedly filled the grey, hard-sided suitcase in its entirety, according to the affidavit. When Melendez opened the suitcase, which was allegedly labeled with Cline’s name, he found 24 vacuum-sealed bags filled with a “leafy green substance.” He later told a Port of Portland Police officer that “bags of this stuff were falling out,” according to the affidavit.

Each bag weighed about 17.7 ounces, and had apparently been labeled “Bubba” in Sharpie marker, according to the affidavit.

Authorities then found Cline at his boarding gate, where he told them that he had been offered money by a stranger to take the bags to Texas.

TSA later located another suitcase allegedly labeled with Cline’s name, and with his consent, searched it. Inside were 26 more vacuum-sealed bags of the leafy, organic substance, according to the affidavit. These were similarly labeled with Sharpie and marked “Obama.”

Preliminary test results of the substance came back positive for marijuana, according to the affidavit. Between the two suitcases, TSA found more than 55 pounds of the psychoactive plant.

When contacted by the Oregonian/Oregonlive, Cline declined to comment on the charge against him or the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

-- Emily Goodykoontz; 503-221-6652; egoodykoontz@oregonian.com