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Men Caught At JFK Airport With 22 Pounds Of Cocaine Strapped To Legs

REUTERS/Eliana Aponte/Files

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Steve Birr Vice Reporter
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Airport security officers recently captured two men attempting to smuggle a massive haul of cocaine strapped to their legs through JFK airport in New York City.

The pair arrived on the same flight from the Dominican Republic April 17 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers grew suspicious of both men’s bulky pants. The smugglers were taken to separate rooms for inspection, where authorities discovered packages of cocaine taped to both men’s legs. One of the smugglers, U.S citizen Ariel Garcia, was carrying 11 pounds of cocaine valued at roughly $180,000, WABC reported Wednesday.

Elvin Montilla-Sosa, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was carrying 12 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $200,000. Authorities turned the smugglers, who face federal narcotics charges, over to the Department of Homeland Security. (RELATED: Man Unknowingly Brings Lollipops Full Of Heroin Into DC Airport)

“This latest seizure demonstrates our CBP officers being ever vigilant in protecting the United States from the distribution of these illicit drugs,” Leon Hayward, Acting Director of CBP’s New York Field Operations, told WABC.

The incident is the latest in a series of recent narcotics busts by security officials at U.S. airports. Police arrested two men attempting to use a dog to smuggle more than $1 million worth of heroin through JFK airport in New York City March 24.

Officers uncovered 10 bricks of heroin in a false bottom built into the base of the crate weighing roughly 22 pounds.

A drug smuggler flying into New York City from the Dominican Republic was apprehended by security March 4 in possession of cocaine. Juan Carlos Galan Luperon was attempting to get through security when agents noticed he was “busting out of his pants.” Officers searched Luperon and found roughly 10 pounds of cocaine taped to his legs.

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