Arrests target Puerto Rico airport drug running ring Posted 2012/06/06 at 1:43 pm EDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 6, 2012 (Reuters) Thirty-six people were arrested on Wednesday in a crackdown on adrug trafficking ring that used Puerto Rico's main airport tosmuggle large quantities of cocaine off the island aboardU.S.-bound passenger flights, authorities said. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the 36 detainees,including 22 suspects rounded up at San Juan's InternationalAirport, were among 45 people indicted for smuggling more than61,000 pounds (28,000 kg) of cocaine out of the U.S. territory oncommercial flights to the U.S. mainland since 1999. "It's an important blow," said Laila Rico, a spokeswoman for theDEA's Caribbean Division, which is headquartered in Puerto Rico. "The Puerto Rico airport is sought-after by drug dealers becauseit's basically a mid-point between South American countries and theUnited States and offers an easy entry point," Rico said. She was referring to the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport inSan Juan, the point from which the bulk of the drugs were flown toMiami and Orlando, in Florida, and Newark, New Jersey, aboardflights operated by American Airlines. The DEA said in a statement that some suspects caught up in thedrug bust were current or former American Airlines employees andairport personnel, who used a designated bathroom to hand overcocaine to couriers preparing to board U.S.-bound flights. Cargo handlers on the payroll of the drug ring also worked toensure that drug-laden suitcases were placed aboard U.S.-boundflights, the DEA said. "The defendants in this investigation not only utilized theirpositions and security access to smuggle large quantities ofillegal narcotics, but they also compromised the safety andsecurity at one of the Caribbean's most vital airports," PedroJaner, the special agent who runs the DEA's operations across theCaribbean, said in a statement. Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth of about 4 million people, haslong been known as a leading transshipment point for the smugglingof illicit drugs out of South America and into the United States. Three of the suspects arrests on Wednesday were detained in theUnited States, according to Rico. She said two were nabbed at MiamiInternational Airport and one at Dallas-Fort Worth InternationalAirport. (Writing by Tom Brown; Reporting by Reuters in San Juan withadditional reporting by Kevin Gray in Miami; Editing by PadraicCassidy). We are high quality suppliers, our products such as PQ Transformer Manufacturer , High Frequency Power Transformer Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits High Frequency Transformers.
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