Federal prosecutors unveiled on Wednesday (May 8) that a group of 4 commercial airline flight attendants leveraged their security clearance to sneak in $8 million in drug money through JFK International Airport, capitalizing on relaxed security measures to funnel the illicit funds through airport checkpoints spanning several years.
These revelations surfaced through federal indictments unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, according to media reports.
US Attorney Damian Williams underscored the gravity of the situation, stating, “These flight attendants smuggled millions of dollars of drug money and law enforcement funds that they thought was drug money from the United States to the Dominican Republic over many years by abusing their privileges as airline employees.”
The probe, spearheaded by Williams’ office and agents from the US Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force, enlisted confidential informants to dismantle the operation. Williams emphasized, “Today’s charges should serve as a reminder to those who break the law by helping drug traffickers move their money that crime doesn’t pay.”
This investigation has exposed critical vulnerabilities in the airline security industry
The accused individuals – Jarol Fabio, Sarah Valerio Pujols, Charlie Fernandez, and Emmanuel Torres – purportedly initiated the trafficking as early as 2014, transporting the money to the Dominican Republic under the guise of their flight attendant positions for various international airlines, the identities of which were not disclosed in media accounts.
Exploiting laxer security measures for airline personnel, the flight attendants successfully executed the scheme, receiving compensation, a portion of the drug proceeds, for their roles as couriers. Upon arrival in the DR, they transferred the cash to contacts involved in drug trafficking.
Ivan Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York, remarked,
“This investigation has exposed critical vulnerabilities in the airline security industry and has illuminated methods that narcotics traffickers are utilizing.”
“Today’s announcement should serve as a warning to all airline personnel,” Arvelo said in a statement, adding, “HSI New York will not tolerate employees’ attempts to abuse their power for the sake of transporting illicit goods.”