OAN Staff Abril Elfi
2:35 PM – Saturday, September 28, 2024
Two Delta Airlines agents have been arrested after allegedly smuggling over $3 million worth of ketamine through John F. Kennedy International Airport.
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According to federal authorities, on September 19th, Leandro Alleyne and Fabian Innis were apprehended after they were allegedly spotted grabbing backpacks and suitcases, loading them onto a baggage transportation vehicle, and taking it to a deserted area of the tarmac, even though they did not have the authority to remove any luggage.
Court documents stated that Alleyne and Innis were seen by U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators as they approached Flight 219, which had arrived from Copenhagen, Denmark. The investigators then swooped in after the pair had begun opening the bags.
They found that each backpack held several transparent plastic bags that were filled with a white, crystallized material that proved to be ketamine through field testing.
Authorities said the two were taken into custody in possession of 134 pounds of the drug, which had a street value of $3 million.
Prosecutors stated in Brooklyn Federal Court documents that two distinct Flight 219 passengers’ names were on luggage tags found in four of the suitcases.
The complaint stated Alleyne and Innis were collaborating with others, but it did not state whether the passengers were a part of the smuggling operation.
“It appears that the backpacks were stowed away within the luggage. Somebody on the other side must have put the backpacks into the luggage after they went through customs,” a source told The Post. “It looks like an inside job.”
Authorities stated that Innis later allegedly confessed “he has done this at least five to 10 times in the past” with Alleyne and “he knew the bags contained drugs based on conversations with Alleyne, but did not know the type of drug.”
They also said that Innis told them before being arrested that he was paid “approximately $4,000 to $5,000 per flight.”
Both defendants entered a not guilty plea and were released after posting a $50,000 bond.
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