Flight crew are exploiting a major airport security loophole to smuggle drugs, experts warn

Alex Mitchell
·2 min read
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Flight attendants are part of a major drug smuggling issue because of light security.
Flight attendants are part of a major drug smuggling issue because of light security.

Trying to spot the drug mules on your flight? Start with the flight crew, experts say.

The shocking warning comes weeks after four flight attendants were busted at JFK for brazenly moving $8 million in narcotics between the US and the Dominican Republic over a period of 10 years.

Now, those in the know are flagging one huge loophole that airline employees have been able to exploit, in order to move a dizzying amount of drugs right under the nose of security officials.

TSA agents say there’s a huge hole in security letting air crew smuggle drugs. Getty Images
TSA agents say there’s a huge hole in security letting air crew smuggle drugs. Getty Images

The problem, the pros say, is the trust extended via the Known Crewmember Program, or KCM.

The 2011 initiative allows pilots, flight attendants, and other air workers to go through a lighter security screening.

Anonymous TSA agents and crew members told Business Insider the benefit is being highly manipulated.

“Time and time again, we have seen that the crew members get so much ‘trust’ just because they’re crew and they’re the ones doing the illegal s–t,” one complained.

Another added that it’s common for flight crews to “completely breach the trust that we put in them.”

A fellow agent also said that ordinary travelers who get flagged for contraband typically do so accidentally.

“Crew, on the other hand, know exactly what they are doing,” said a worker as yet one more called for the KCM to shut down.

When a Mesa Airlines flight attendant got busted last year, a rep for the company told The Post about how the system works.

“You have a KCM card. You scan the card, show your company ID and driver’s license and walk right through.”

Flight attendants are a major risk for moving drugs internationally, experts warn. Svitlana – stock.adobe.com
Flight attendants are a major risk for moving drugs internationally, experts warn. Svitlana – stock.adobe.com

“But, sometimes, you get a ‘random.’ That’s when you are randomly chosen to go through the security that everybody else goes through.”

In the case of Terese White, 41 — cuffed for intent to distribute fentanyl — her luck ran out on one fateful day in 2023.

Flight workers peddling drugs aren’t always doing so maliciously, former TSA agent Caleb Harmon-Marshall told BI.

TSA is getting skeptical of a system that lets flight attendants carry drugs through airports and flights without being checked. Getty Images
TSA is getting skeptical of a system that lets flight attendants carry drugs through airports and flights without being checked. Getty Images

He said it’s quite common for them to be approached at airports by nefarious individuals.

“And sometimes it’s dangerous situations where they’ll threaten your family,” the expert added.

“It’s very scary.”