WASHINGTON: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers gave NY1’s Dean Meminger a behind the scenes look at how they’re cracking down on drug smugglers at JFK Airport. On the hunt for drug smugglers. Customs and Border Protection officers at JFK Airport go through suitcases, look into containers of food, even open jars of body creams. “We average a drug interdiction and arrest once every three days,” said Chief Craig Sanko with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That’s about 120 drug arrests a year at the nation’s busiest international airport, where 16 million travelers arriving from other countries are screened every year. Since March, four arrests have gained special attention, smugglers busted with drugs taped to their bodies, an old tactic carried to a brazen extreme.
Some drew attention for being nervous, others by literally busting out of their pants with $100,000 in cocaine. “It was just the simple audacity that somebody would tape that much narcotics to their body and think they were actually going to get by us. It was ridiculous,” Sanko said. “They tend to look like the Michelin man really.” All four flew from the Dominican Republic, which with Jamaica and Guyana is where most of the smugglers come from. But the drugs originate in South America. And there are those who swallow smaller quantities of drugs, hoping to get past customs. In one case, it was a mother and daughter.
“The mother had made her thirteen year old daughter swallow narcotics,” said Paola Figueroa, a supervisor with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Roving officers are posted at baggage claim looking for anyone who appears suspicious. But they are also using computers to analyze every international passenger. The pictures of people with drugs taped to their bodes are shocking and even funny at times. But Customs and Border Protection say this is a serious job and they are helping to fight crime on the streets on New York City. And it is not just about stopping illegal drugs. It’s about the number one priority: preventing terrorists from entering the country. “If we don’t intercept or interdict those individuals, they’re in the United States,” Sanko said. “Because if one gets through, people are going to lose their lives.”
