OAKLAND: Federal charges have been filed against a Transportation Security Administration officer suspected of using her position to allow drugs to be smuggled aboard planes at Oakland International Airport, authorities said.
Kiana Scott Clark, 28, of San Mateo, was arrested Wednesday on a federal grand jury indictment charging her with two counts of conspiring to distribute controlled substances and two counts of conspiring to defraud the United States by obstructing, impeding and interfering with aviation security functions of the TSA.
She was scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday.
According to a federal Department of Justice news release, Clark operated an X-ray machine at the Oakland airport, where she allowed unnamed co-conspirators to clear the checkpoint without the required screening of their carry-on luggage.
Officials said the co-conspirators had marijuana in the luggage that was destined for other parts of the country.
Authorities said the smuggling went on from at least September 2013 through October of this year and involved more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.
The news release did not say how the illegal operation was discovered or how long Clark was a TSA officer.
Law enforcement sources estimated the value of the smuggled marijuana to be at least $500,000.
If convicted of all charges, Clark could face up to more than 40 years in prison and fines in excess of $5 million, according to federal officials.
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