Tue, Feb 24, 2004
Federal Agents Take Suspects Into Custody In Miami
At least 14 current and
possibly former American Airlines employees at Miami International
Airport have been charged with drug conspiracy in a suspected
smuggling operation after a four-year investigation, U.S.
government sources said.
A Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman said Monday that at
least 13 people are in custody. "It's part of an international
drug-smuggling operation," Special Agent Joe Kilmer said. Federal
drug agents picked up the first of the suspects at dawn Monday.
Some of the defendants wearing American Airlines mechanic-type
uniforms were seen in handcuffs being taken into custody at DEA
offices in Miami. The U.S. attorney's office in Miami released a
statement saying 14 people have been charged with drug conspiracy
in two indictments. No further details have been released publicly
until a news conference later Monday.
Via its own statement, American Airlines said it assisted in the
investigation that led to the arrests. The carrier noted that a
small number of its employees are suspected of wrongdoing and
called its anti-drug program "one of the most elaborate anti-drug
initiatives in the airline industry." It said it "has been highly
successful in working with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and
other countries to deter the illegal trafficking of drugs."
The operation is believed to be similar to a major 1999 sting at
the airport. The so-called Operation Ramp Rats involved an
undercover case in which 58 ramp workers and other airport
employees were indicted in Miami and New York. The defendants were
charged with thwarting security to move drug shipments through the
airport.
U.S. law enforcement
officials said nearly all were convicted. Most pleaded guilty,
officials said. In the previous case, ramp workers were accused of
setting aside pre-identified arriving baggage containing drugs and
moving them off the airport premises without being stopped. A
catering service also was used to smuggle heroin -- inside coffee
packets in one case.
After the 1999 operation, Miami airport officials and airlines
implemented intensified security procedures after acknowledging
improvements were needed. Sources said that some of those new
security measures apparently have been breached again.
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