U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, working jointly with officers of the Airport Investigations and Tactical Team (AirTAT), arrested Tuesday 23 individuals for drug trafficking and money laundering. The members of the drug trafficking organization that operated from the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (LMMIA) were responsible for the movement of multi-kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to the continental United States.
The five-count indictment alleges that beginning on a date unknown and continuing up to and until the return of the indictment April 10, the defendants smuggled multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine through the LMMIA to major cities in the eastern United States. The charging document also alleges that those arrested played different roles and used several methods to circumvent Transportation Security Administration (TSA) procedures at the LMMIA. Some members of the organization acted as leaders, facilitators, transporters and mules and conspired with each other to move the cocaine so it passed the security screeners undetected.