|
|
|
Cocaine In Drink Boxes And Spice Bottle Seized
At Washington
Dulles Airport |
| |
|
August 8, 2012 - Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) officers at Washington Dulles
International Airport seized almost 4 pounds of
cocaine hidden inside chocolate drink boxes and
a spice bottle in two Guatemalan men’s luggage
shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday.
Esteban Gustavo Ischiu Rojas, 44, and Jose
Victor Munoz Lemus, 42, both from Guatemala and
travelling together, arrived on a flight from
San Salvador, El Salvador, and presented
themselves as travelers for business as
couriers. CBP officers referred both to
secondary inspection for a baggage exam. In
Ischiu’s baggage, CBP officers discovered a
garlic salt bottle which contained 177 grams, or
about 6 ounces, of cocaine.
|
|
 |
|
In Munoz’ baggage, CBP officers discovered that
four Choco Panda drink boxes contained plastic
bags filled with cocaine totaling 1,536 grams,
or 3 pounds, 6 ounces. Total weight of the
cocaine was 1,713 grams, or 3 pounds, 12 ounces.
The street value was approximately $120,000.
“Customs and Border Protection officers are very
good at finding illicit substances concealed in
novel ways,” said Christopher Hess, CBP Port
Director for the Port of Washington. “This
narcotics seizure highlights the work of
vigilant officers performing a thorough
inspection and preventing this deadly poison
from finding its way onto our community’s
streets.”
Both men were turned over to the Metropolitan
Washington Airport Authority police department
for criminal prosecution on controlled substance
charges. CBP placed an immigration detainer on
the two men to be returned to CBP upon the
adjudication of any charges. “Every
day at Dulles we welcome thousands of legitimate
business travelers to the United States,” said
Hess. “But this is one type of business that
doesn’t belong here.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the
unified border agency within the Department of
Homeland Security charged with the management,
control, and protection of our Nation's borders
at and between the official ports of entry. CBP
is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist
weapons out of the country while enforcing
hundreds of U.S. laws. |
|
|
