30 pounds of cocaine found in airport passenger’s wheelchair, Maryland cops say
An airline passenger was found trying to smuggle over 30 pounds of cocaine into the U.S., with the drugs stuffed in the cushions of his electric wheelchair, according to federal authorities.
On a flight coming from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the traveler arrived at the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on June 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in a statement.
The man apparently “thought he could roll right by,” said Stephen Maloney, the Customs and Border Patrol Director of Field Operations in Baltimore, on Twitter.
Instead, the passenger was sent for a secondary inspection, officials said. During the search, agents X-rayed his wheelchair and noticed something strange in the cushions.
When they looked closer, they found 13 bricks of plastic-wrapped cocaine, Customs agents said. Together, the bricks weighed 30 pounds and three ounces.
“Concealing dangerous drugs inside wheelchair seat cushions is unusual,” said Thomas Heffernan, the Customs and Border Patrol Acting Area Port Director for Baltimore.
The traveler, a 34-year-old man from Union City, New Jersey, was arrested by Maryland Transportation Authorities with charges of importing and possessing narcotics.
This is the second time agents reported finding drugs hidden inside of wheelchairs in recent weeks. The last incident took place on May 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where agents found 23 pounds of cocaine in another passenger’s wheelchair, the agency reported.
In both instances, the travelers were arriving from the Dominican Republic, officials said.
Grandma took her grandbaby — and cocaine stash — to prison visit, Florida cops say
Nile crocodile found in massive stash of fentanyl pills, guns and cash, Arizona cops say
Cops looking for drugs find alligator in CA home, officials say. Man is going to jail
