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The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested two Delta Airlines ramp agents for trying to sneak over $3 million worth of ketamine through JFK Airport in New York.
It was quite a scene.
Leandro Alleyne and Fabian Innis, the two Delta agents, were caught red-handed. They were seen taking backpacks and suitcases off a flight, loading them onto a baggage vehicle, and moving them to a deserted tarmac area.
At that moment, neither had permission to remove luggage from the plane that had just arrived from Copenhagen, Denmark. Also, Alleyne wasn’t even assigned to drive the baggage vehicle then.
Delta informed officers that there was “no legitimate reason” for their actions. According to court documents, DHS officers nabbed the duo as they began opening the bags.
Inside those bags? Multiple clear plastic bags filled with what turned out to be ketamine. After field testing, it was confirmed.
In total, they tried—and failed—to smuggle 134 pounds of ketamine worth more than $3 million. “That is a very large amount of ketamine,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan told the New York Post.
Brennan added, “If I were running that case, I’d be more interested in where it was going rather than where it was coming from because that is what would have the greatest impact on our community.”
Innis confessed he had done this at least five to ten times before. He also admitted he was paid “approximately $4,000 to $5,000 per flight.”
Alleyne mentioned he knew the bags contained drugs based on conversations with Innis but didn’t know what type. Four suitcases had luggage tags with names of two different Flight 219 passengers.
The complaint didn’t specify if these passengers were part of the smuggling ring but noted Alleyne and Innis were working with others. “It appears that the backpacks were stowed away within the luggage,” a source told the New York Post.
“Somebody on the other side must have put the backpacks into the luggage after they went through customs,” the source added. “It looks like an inside job.”
