SAN JUAN: Federal authorities issued arrest warrants for 37 Puerto Ricans they say ran a ring that smuggled drugs on commercial flights from the island to the U.S. mainland.
The group is accused of transporting 180 kilograms (397 pounds) of cocaine to places including Orlando, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Connecticut. U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said the group is accused of making at least 40 trips originating from Puerto Rico’s main international airport and paying drug mules to hide vacuum-packed cocaine in suitcases since May 2013.
Prosecutors said the couriers would receive anywhere from $200 to $1,500 per suitcase, and that they often carried cash on their trips back to Puerto Rico.
So far, no airline employees or airport workers appear to be involved, Rodriguez said, though the investigation is continuing.
One suspect was arrested in Orlando and at least 28 were arrested in Puerto Rico as of Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The arrests come after an investigation that began in December 2014 with the cooperation of some couriers, said James Doby, acting special agent in charge of the Caribbean division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The operation, dubbed “Bad Trip,” comes roughly three years after federal authorities raided Puerto Rico’s main airport and arrested more than 30 people accused of smuggling millions of dollars’ worth of drugs on commercial flights. Among the accused were former airline employees.
Puerto Rico Public Affairs Secretary Jesus Manuel Ortiz said this week that cocaine seizures so far this year are up by 63 percent, heroin seizures by 100 percent and marijuana seizures by more than 150 percent compared with all of last year.
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