MANGO!
10-17-2007, 06:55 AM
Department of Justice Press Release (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/files/jfk_takedown.pdf) - with all the names.
Feds say they busted drug ring operating through JFK airport
USATODAY (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/feds-say-they-b.html)
Federal prosecutors say at least 18 people have been charged in connection with a scheme to smuggle drugs through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The Daily News reports that "airport workers in the Dominican Republic hid the drugs in luggage bound for New York. At JFK, a second group of airport workers then retrieved the bags and hid them before the luggage could be inspected." Investigators seized more than 90 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of heroin during the two-year probe, according to WABC-TV. Delta Air Lines is said to have employed seven of the suspects. One worked for American Airlines, officials said.
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American Airlines, Delta workers charged with smuggling drugs
05:51 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Bloomberg News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/101707dnbussmugglingarrests.15fb8e5.html)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/2277/amdjfkdrugsym6.jpg
Ten workers at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, including employees of Delta Air Lines Inc. and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, were charged with being part of a drug-smuggling ring, U.S. prosecutors said.
Federal agents Tuesday arrested 18 people who were part of an international heroin, cocaine and ecstasy importation group, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said in a statement. The group concealed narcotics in luggage and used airport workers to smuggle the drugs aboard commercial flights to JFK, she said.
“The investigation uncovered a major international drug importation and distribution organization” prosecutors said in their criminal complaint unsealed today. Both airlines said they cooperated with investigators.
Seven workers for Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier, one employee from American, the world’s largest carrier, an Aramark Corp. food-service worker and an airport courier were named in the criminal complaint. All the workers are based at Kennedy airport, Mauskopf said in a statement.
Henry Polanco, a New York man described in court papers as the group’s leader, also was charged. Polanco allegedly dealt with drug suppliers in the Dominican Republic, according to prosecutors.
“Polanco utilized transportation networks consisting primarily of corrupt airline employees,” prosecutors said.
All the workers are based at Kennedy airport, Mauskopf said in a statement. Migdalia Sosa, the Aramark worker, served as a lookout, prosecutors said. Polanco and three other defendants were charged with conspiracy to import a controlled substance, punishable by as much as life in prison and a $4 million fine, Mauskopf said.
“We have been cooperating with authorities, both state and federal, for several months, Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly said in a phone interview. “We have been assisting them in this investigation. All of those who were arrested today were suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.”
American spokesman Tim Smith said one man named in the importation scheme, Elsen Vasquez, worked for the airline as a part-time employee.
“We have been working with the authorities on this investigation” Smith said in a phone interview.
The defendants were expected to be brought before a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, New York, later Tuesday.
UAL Corp.’s United Airlines is the second-largest U.S. carrier.
The case is U.S. v. Henry Polanco, 07-M-1115, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
Feds say they busted drug ring operating through JFK airport
USATODAY (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/feds-say-they-b.html)
Federal prosecutors say at least 18 people have been charged in connection with a scheme to smuggle drugs through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The Daily News reports that "airport workers in the Dominican Republic hid the drugs in luggage bound for New York. At JFK, a second group of airport workers then retrieved the bags and hid them before the luggage could be inspected." Investigators seized more than 90 pounds of cocaine and 50 pounds of heroin during the two-year probe, according to WABC-TV. Delta Air Lines is said to have employed seven of the suspects. One worked for American Airlines, officials said.
_______________
American Airlines, Delta workers charged with smuggling drugs
05:51 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Bloomberg News (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/101707dnbussmugglingarrests.15fb8e5.html)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/2277/amdjfkdrugsym6.jpg
Ten workers at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, including employees of Delta Air Lines Inc. and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, were charged with being part of a drug-smuggling ring, U.S. prosecutors said.
Federal agents Tuesday arrested 18 people who were part of an international heroin, cocaine and ecstasy importation group, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said in a statement. The group concealed narcotics in luggage and used airport workers to smuggle the drugs aboard commercial flights to JFK, she said.
“The investigation uncovered a major international drug importation and distribution organization” prosecutors said in their criminal complaint unsealed today. Both airlines said they cooperated with investigators.
Seven workers for Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier, one employee from American, the world’s largest carrier, an Aramark Corp. food-service worker and an airport courier were named in the criminal complaint. All the workers are based at Kennedy airport, Mauskopf said in a statement.
Henry Polanco, a New York man described in court papers as the group’s leader, also was charged. Polanco allegedly dealt with drug suppliers in the Dominican Republic, according to prosecutors.
“Polanco utilized transportation networks consisting primarily of corrupt airline employees,” prosecutors said.
All the workers are based at Kennedy airport, Mauskopf said in a statement. Migdalia Sosa, the Aramark worker, served as a lookout, prosecutors said. Polanco and three other defendants were charged with conspiracy to import a controlled substance, punishable by as much as life in prison and a $4 million fine, Mauskopf said.
“We have been cooperating with authorities, both state and federal, for several months, Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly said in a phone interview. “We have been assisting them in this investigation. All of those who were arrested today were suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.”
American spokesman Tim Smith said one man named in the importation scheme, Elsen Vasquez, worked for the airline as a part-time employee.
“We have been working with the authorities on this investigation” Smith said in a phone interview.
The defendants were expected to be brought before a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, New York, later Tuesday.
UAL Corp.’s United Airlines is the second-largest U.S. carrier.
The case is U.S. v. Henry Polanco, 07-M-1115, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).