Summary
- American Airlines mechanic sentenced to 9 years for attempting to smuggle cocaine off a flight from Jamaica to New York.
- The cocaine was found in the electronics compartment beneath the cockpit, valued at $250,000.
- Officials marked fake bricks in the shipment to catch the culprit, leading to the mechanic’s arrest.
A former
American Airlines
mechanic has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in a cocaine smuggling conspiracy. Paul Belloisi was caught attempting to retrieve cocaine from beneath the cockpit of an American flight from Jamaica to New York in February 2020.
American Airlines smuggling mechanic sentenced
Paul Belloisi, 56, of Smithtown, New York, was sentenced this week by US District Judge Dora Irizarry following his conviction for conspiring to possess cocaine, conspiring to import cocaine and importing cocaine in May 2023.
According to a Reuters report, Belloisi was a mechanic at American for over two decades and essentially acted as an “inside man” before he was caught in early 2020. During a routine inspection of American Airlines flight 1349 – arriving at New York JFK International (JFK) from Montego Bay (MBJ) on February 4th, 2020 – CBP officers from the JFK Airport Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team discovered 10 bricks of cocaine weighing around 11.6 kg hidden in an electronics compartment below the cockpit.
To catch whoever was due to collect the illegal shipment, officers marked 10 fake bricks with a special substance that glows under black light and waited for the courier to arrive. Belloisi was then spotted driving to the aircraft and entering the electronics compartment.
Photo: Popova Valeriya | Shutterstock
Authorities moved on him and found him equipped with an empty tool bag, a large jacket with cutouts to conceal the cocaine, and observed his gloves glowing under the black light. Apparently, the cocaine found in this particular shipment had a street value exceeding $250,000, and there’s no telling how many shipments managed to slip through before Belloisi was caught.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, stated,
“The defendant abused his insider position at JFK Airport to help smuggle more than 25 pounds of cocaine into the United States in a highly sensitive electronics compartment of an international aircraft.”
Nine-year sentence
According to Belloisi’s lawyer, David Cohen, the former mechanic will appeal his conviction, although Judge Irizarry separately rejected his request for an acquittal, claiming there is no reasonable doubt that Belloisi knew about the cocaine and “intentionally conspired and aided in its importation.”
Photo: NYC Russ | Shutterstock
Darren B. McCormack, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), said the conviction would “send a message to anyone attempting to exploit the aviation industry.” It should also be noted that the cocaine was hidden in a highly sensitive area, potentially endangering the safety of the aircraft.
In another recent case of “insider” smuggling at JFK that made the news, four US flight attendants are facing around five years in prison for smuggling $8 million in drug proceeds via the TSA’s Known Crewmember (KCM) lane. However, while JFK is going to get its fair share of contraband movement as a major international airport, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is believed to have a far worse problem with smuggling.