NewsWhore
01-17-2012, 03:00 PM
A 130-pound cache of cocaine seized at Philadelphia International Airport is the airport's biggest contraband bust ever, according to MyFox Philly. The previous bust record was 55 pounds on 5 August 2000. And now National Drug Control Department and US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents are trying to find the local accomplices, according to media reports.
"This is by far the largest amount of cocaine that any of us can remember seizing in the airport environment in Philadelphia," said Allan Martocci, CBP Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. The haul is estimated to be worth US$4 million.
"The volume alone raises concern for us. Customs and Border Protection officers remain steadfastly vigilant to stop narcotics here at our border before it can hurt our families and our communities. Any day that we can remove 130 pounds of cocaine from circulation is a good day," as reported in MyFox Philly.
The bags arrived on board Flight 1068 of US Airways from Santo Domingo on Sunday, 8 January. After the passengers had left the international inspection station, a CBP narcotics detector dog sniffed the unclaimed bags and alerted to the possible presence of narcotics, reports MyFox Philly.
The three duffel bags were found to contain 52 packages of cocaine.
In a press release from the DNCD dated 16 January, Major General Rolando Rosado Mateo denied earlier media reports that the DEA was interrogating members of the DNCD or companies operating at AILA-SDQ. "The DEA only has advisory jurisdiction," explained Rosado in a written release, responding to earlier media reports that the investigation was focusing on DNCD agents.
In the release, Rosado Mateo says that the DNCD established that employees who offer their services to US Airways were the ones who had made the arrangements for the shipment of the drug to Philadelphia, changing the ID tags of the luggage that contained the packages. He said several are under investigation, including a man named as Alexander Pichardo Jimenez who is under arrest.
The release establishes that the investigations are carried out by officers of the DNCD, the J2 Intelligence Department of the Armed Forces, the Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA) and not the DEA, as was erroneously or maliciously published," said the anti-drug head.
El Caribe had reported yesterday that Drug Enforcement Administration agents were investigating the handling of the flight closely with the local authorities at the request of the airline that faces a US$2 million fine by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for transporting the drugs.
El Nacional explained that US Airways asked the DEA to intervene because that day's flight was directed by DNCD personnel at SDQ. They allegedly removed the flight's private security contractors, Ventura Cruz y Asociados, and replaced them with government DNCD agents. The newspaper company says that in 12 years of flying to the Dominican Republic, there have only been two proven incidents of transporting drugs and as occurred this time, the incident followed a DNCD operation. The first case occurred on Sunday, 15 December 2011, when 23-year old Wilson Miguel Jaquez tried to travel to Philadelphia with 3.5 pounds of cocaine worth US$112,000 in an item of hand luggage with a double lining. He was caught when a CBP agent noticed his empty carry-on luggage was suspiciously heavy.
As reported in elnacional.com.do, the arrival of US antinarcotics agents as well as US Airways security guards caused surprise in the terminal where videos have been requested that were apparently erased, meaning that the day's operations weren't recorded. The DEA agents met with the carrier's executives in Philadelphia, before traveling to Santo Domingo where they continue the investigation.
US Airways managers said the DNCD agents took charge of the plane's security that day, and searched passengers and their luggage and used trained dogs, which caused a 26-minute delay in its departure. The DNCD removed Compania Ventura Cruz y Asociado, the private security contractors, from servicing the flight.
www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2012/1/17/218405/Dice-que-la-DEA-no-investiga-personal-DNCD-en-relacion-a-decomiso-de-droga (http://www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2012/1/17/218405/Dice-que-la-DEA-no-investiga-personal-DNCD-en-relacion-a-decomiso-de-droga)
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/01/16/dea-linea-aerea-investigaran-caso-droga-llego-filadelfia
www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/huge-coke-bust-at-philadelphia-airport (http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/huge-coke-bust-at-philadelphia-airport)
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=8467901
www.elnacional.com.do/nacional/2012/1/16/108271/DEA-investiga-agentes-DNCD-en-Aila-pordroga-salio-desde-RD-a-Filadelfia (http://www.elnacional.com.do/nacional/2012/1/16/108271/DEA-investiga-agentes-DNCD-en-Aila-pordroga-salio-desde-RD-a-Filadelfia)
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2012/01/16/i320679_droga-filadelfia-aila.html (http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2012/01/16/i320679_droga-filadelfia-aila.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
"This is by far the largest amount of cocaine that any of us can remember seizing in the airport environment in Philadelphia," said Allan Martocci, CBP Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia. The haul is estimated to be worth US$4 million.
"The volume alone raises concern for us. Customs and Border Protection officers remain steadfastly vigilant to stop narcotics here at our border before it can hurt our families and our communities. Any day that we can remove 130 pounds of cocaine from circulation is a good day," as reported in MyFox Philly.
The bags arrived on board Flight 1068 of US Airways from Santo Domingo on Sunday, 8 January. After the passengers had left the international inspection station, a CBP narcotics detector dog sniffed the unclaimed bags and alerted to the possible presence of narcotics, reports MyFox Philly.
The three duffel bags were found to contain 52 packages of cocaine.
In a press release from the DNCD dated 16 January, Major General Rolando Rosado Mateo denied earlier media reports that the DEA was interrogating members of the DNCD or companies operating at AILA-SDQ. "The DEA only has advisory jurisdiction," explained Rosado in a written release, responding to earlier media reports that the investigation was focusing on DNCD agents.
In the release, Rosado Mateo says that the DNCD established that employees who offer their services to US Airways were the ones who had made the arrangements for the shipment of the drug to Philadelphia, changing the ID tags of the luggage that contained the packages. He said several are under investigation, including a man named as Alexander Pichardo Jimenez who is under arrest.
The release establishes that the investigations are carried out by officers of the DNCD, the J2 Intelligence Department of the Armed Forces, the Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA) and not the DEA, as was erroneously or maliciously published," said the anti-drug head.
El Caribe had reported yesterday that Drug Enforcement Administration agents were investigating the handling of the flight closely with the local authorities at the request of the airline that faces a US$2 million fine by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for transporting the drugs.
El Nacional explained that US Airways asked the DEA to intervene because that day's flight was directed by DNCD personnel at SDQ. They allegedly removed the flight's private security contractors, Ventura Cruz y Asociados, and replaced them with government DNCD agents. The newspaper company says that in 12 years of flying to the Dominican Republic, there have only been two proven incidents of transporting drugs and as occurred this time, the incident followed a DNCD operation. The first case occurred on Sunday, 15 December 2011, when 23-year old Wilson Miguel Jaquez tried to travel to Philadelphia with 3.5 pounds of cocaine worth US$112,000 in an item of hand luggage with a double lining. He was caught when a CBP agent noticed his empty carry-on luggage was suspiciously heavy.
As reported in elnacional.com.do, the arrival of US antinarcotics agents as well as US Airways security guards caused surprise in the terminal where videos have been requested that were apparently erased, meaning that the day's operations weren't recorded. The DEA agents met with the carrier's executives in Philadelphia, before traveling to Santo Domingo where they continue the investigation.
US Airways managers said the DNCD agents took charge of the plane's security that day, and searched passengers and their luggage and used trained dogs, which caused a 26-minute delay in its departure. The DNCD removed Compania Ventura Cruz y Asociado, the private security contractors, from servicing the flight.
www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2012/1/17/218405/Dice-que-la-DEA-no-investiga-personal-DNCD-en-relacion-a-decomiso-de-droga (http://www.listin.com.do/la-republica/2012/1/17/218405/Dice-que-la-DEA-no-investiga-personal-DNCD-en-relacion-a-decomiso-de-droga)
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/01/16/dea-linea-aerea-investigaran-caso-droga-llego-filadelfia
www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/huge-coke-bust-at-philadelphia-airport (http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/huge-coke-bust-at-philadelphia-airport)
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=8467901
www.elnacional.com.do/nacional/2012/1/16/108271/DEA-investiga-agentes-DNCD-en-Aila-pordroga-salio-desde-RD-a-Filadelfia (http://www.elnacional.com.do/nacional/2012/1/16/108271/DEA-investiga-agentes-DNCD-en-Aila-pordroga-salio-desde-RD-a-Filadelfia)
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2012/01/16/i320679_droga-filadelfia-aila.html (http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2012/01/16/i320679_droga-filadelfia-aila.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)