Authorities Break JFK Cocaine, Heroin Ring

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Federal authorities said they have busted an international drug smuggling ring that included 10 John F. Kennedy airport airline employees.

A total of 18 people were arrested after customs enforcement agents used surveillance and wiretaps to investigate the smuggling network, which allegedly transported drugs to Washington Heights from the Dominican Republic. Authorities said they confiscated more than 46 kilograms of cocaine, 25 kilograms of heroin, and a quantity of MDMA, or ecstasy.

The operation was led by a Washington Heights resident, Henry Polanco, authorities said yesterday.

A Delta Airlines employee, Erik Erazo, allegedly directed other JFK employees from inside the airport, where members of the drug ring unloaded luggage containing drugs into so-called safe areas before law enforcement inspected it. Corrupt airline employees in the Dominican Republic were also involved, the federal complaint said.

A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mark Thorn, said members of the ring had “abused their position of trust,” and “exploited a vulnerability at the airport of entry at JFK.” A Delta Airlines representative said the arrested Delta employees had been suspended without pay, and noted the airline had been cooperating in the investigation for several months. She said Delta complies with Transportation Security Administration requirements that all employees entering secure zones at airports undergo 10-year criminal background checks, a new requirement following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

One of the arrested airport employees worked for American Airlines, which did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment.


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