CNN reported on September 15th that twenty-three suspects were arrested Tuesday for allegedly transporting nearly $20 million worth of cocaine in a drug trafficking operation that has been running since 1999. The news network revealed that nine American Airlines employees were amongst those taken into custody in Puerto Rico. It appears that suitcases filled with illicit drugs were loaded onto commercial flights in San Juan, which authorities described as a transshipment point for drugs bound for cities on the U.S. mainland. According to a September 16th report by The Wall Street Journal, federal investigators said smugglers allegedly recruited members of the ground crew to buy suitcases and pack each with 30 kilograms, or 66 pounds, of cocaine. According to the indictment, it is estimated that more than 9,000 kilograms (19,842 pounds) of cocaine had been smuggled on American flights. The Wall Street Journal also cited that the DEA had discovered the operation in March, after a neighbor called police when noticing American Airlines shipping containers at a home in a residential area. Police later found cocaine inside the containers, according to a person familiar with the investigation. According to a September 15th article in The Examiner, the drug trafficking organization is allegedly headed by a former part-time American Airlines cargo employee, Wilfredo Rodriguez Rosado, 37. Rodriguez surrendered at a federal courthouse Tuesday afternoon. According to his attorney, Luis Rivera, Rodriguez no longer works for the airline and will plead innocent. If convicted, the defendants could face sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison as well as personal fines of up to $4 million, reported CNN.
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