Drug-Filled Suitcases Sent From Dominican Republic

In what appears to be the cracking of an international drug-smuggling operation, officials arrested 18 airline employees this week for trafficking narcotics through John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The Associated Press reports agents confiscated shipments of over 100 pounds of cocaine, 55 pounds of heroin and another seven pounds of ecstasy. The 18 people arrested included seven employees of Delta, and one worker for American Airlines.

Prosecutors allege airport workers in the Dominican Republic would place drugs in bags bound for New York. Baggage handlers at JFK would retrieve the drugs, and whisk them away to a safe area before the bags could be inspected -- avoiding security workers and surveillance cameras in the process.

Officials believe the operation was masterminded by 31-year old Henry Polanco, who Newsday reports called in contacts in the US and the Caribbean in organizing the trafficking ring. A Delta cargo supervisor, 38-year-old Jorge Espinal, was also arrested.

US customs agents uncovered the operation, officials said, after a two-year investigation spurred by a 2005 incident involving drugs confiscated at JFK that had arrived on a Delta flight.

Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly said the airline is cooperating in the probe, and the employees involved have been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

The implicated employees appear to have passed the necessary background checks before being allowed access to secured areas of the airport ramp, Kelly added.

FMI: www.ice.gov, www.delta.com, www.aa.com