Woman attempts to smuggle $450,000 worth of cocaine in her wheelchair at New York airport
A woman was arrested last week in New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after customs officers discovered nearly half a million dollars worth of cocaine in her wheelchair.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday that the woman, Emelinda Paulino De Rivas, was arrested on Nov. 10. She arrived at JFK airport on a flight from the Dominican Republic in a wheelchair and customs officers stopped her after realized that the wheels "were not turning."
When they X-rayed the chair, they found an "anomaly" in all four, and soon discovered 28 pounds of cocaine hidden within them – an amount with a street value of $450,000, officials said. This amount would translate to roughly 75,000 100 to 200-milligram doses, authorities said, and about 6,000 lethal doses.
De Rivas was arrested for importing a controlled substance and put in custody of Homeland Security Investigations. She is facing narcotics smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York.
"CBP stands steadfast and determined in working with our partners to identify the trans-national criminal networks responsible for importing these deadly drugs into our neighborhoods," Francis J. Russo, director of CBP's New York field operations, said in a press release. "CBP's mission is to guard the borders and ports of entry 24/7, 365 days a year to prevent these dangerous drugs from potentially killing our family, friends, and neighbors."
This was at least the second time in a matter of months that the drug has been found hidden in a wheelchair.
In September, a drug-sniffing dog led police at Milan's Malpensa airport to find nearly 30 pounds of cocaine hidden in the upholstery of a motorized wheelchair. The owner of that chair was arrested and taken to a local jail. Police said that the amount of cocaine they seized was worth nearly $1.6 million and could have provided 27,000 individual doses.