2 ARE HELD IN LAX DRUG CASE
Former baggage handlers are charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine through the airport.
Two former baggage handlers at Los Angeles International Airport are in federal custody after being arrested Monday on suspicion of cocaine trafficking, authorities said.
Adrian Ponce, 27, and Alberto Preciado Gutierrez, 26, both of South Gate, have been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine through LAX to the East Coast, according to a federal affidavit. Ponce is accused of admitting to driving cocaine to the East Coast in trucks as well, authorities said.
Law enforcement officers in December seized roughly 2 pounds of cocaine from Preciado in a restroom in Terminal 3 of LAX, near Gate 34, authorities said. At the time, he was trying to pass the drugs to a courier who had a ticket for a JetBlue Airways f light, said LAX Police Officer Michael Woodard, who is part of a task force investigating drug smuggling. Ponce, who was found nearby, was also taken into custody.
The next day, in a written statement to police, Ponce admitted to smuggling drugs through the airport with Preciado on four occasions, according to authorities. He told police he was working for a large- scale drug distributor, according to court records.
According to Ponce, if buyers liked the “sample” of cocaine that was sent through LAX, the distributor would arrange for the shipment of more than 220 pounds of cocaine in a hidden compartment of a socalled bobtail truck. Ponce told investigators he had driven the truck on more than one occasion.
Both men had worked at LAX before they were arrested. Preciado was the duty manager for Swissport International Ltd., and he oversaw ramp crews and could enter the airport without security checks. He brought a backpack into the airport daily and it was never checked, according to authorities. Ponce was a baggage handler for Swissport.
“This underscores why the searches of airport employees should be mandatory like what’s already happening at three other airports. Miami, Orlando and now Atlanta,” said Marshall McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers’ Assn. “We can’t simply continue to say that it can’t be done or that it’s too costly. The insider threat is real.”
Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Pat Gannon said the airport is reducing the number of worker access points to the airport and conducting random searches of workers as they enter.
Last month, federal authorities apprehended JetBlue f light attendant Marsha Gay Reynolds, accusing her of attempting to smuggle 70 pounds of cocaine through LAX. Authorities say the drugs were in her baggage, which was randomly checked.
Two years ago, a Delta baggage handler at LAX received 27 months in prison for his part in a drug- smuggling ring. That same year a Transportation Security Administration officer got 80 months for his part in a smuggling operation involving 11 people, including some TSA officers.