After two incidents last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have once again found cocaine-taped to travelers' legs at JFK Airport. This time, two men on the same flight were arrested.
The arrests were made following an April 19th flight from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to JFK Airport. Customs and Border Protection says that U.S. citizen Ariel Garcia "presented himself for inspection," and was taken to a private search room. During a search, officers say they discovered the packages containing a white powder taped to his legs. The powder later tested positive for cocaine; approximately 11 pounds of cocaine was confiscated, with an estimated street value of more than $180,000.
Fellow traveler Elvin Montilla-Sosa, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was allegedly found with 12 pounds of cocaine packages taped to his legs and back. The coke has an estimated street value of more than $200,000.
Both men were turned over to Homeland Security Investigations and now face federal narcotics smuggling charges.
