Federal Agents: Man Flying To JFK From Mexico Hid Cocaine In Candy Bags
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A passenger flying into John F. Kennedy International Airport from Mexico City this week was hiding cocaine inside a bag of candy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday.
Eusebio Jimenez Manjarrez, a Mexican citizen, arrived on a flight to JFK on Wednesday and presented himself to agents for inspection, according to the agency.
In examining his baggage, officers removed a bag of candy and found an object wrapped in tape, the agency said. The bag shown in photographs from Customs and Border Patrol was for Pelon Peloneta chamoy and watermelon lollipops, but the object wrapped in tape was something else altogether, the agency said.
In probing the object while holding Manjarrez in a private search room, agents found a white powder that tested positive for cocaine, the agency said.
There turned out to be a total of four bags of candy containing about six pounds of cocaine in all, the agency said. Its street value is about $97,000.
"Cocaine is a dangerous narcotic, and CBP does its part in keeping these drugs off the streets." Robert E. Perez, Director of CBP's New York Field Operations, said in a news release. "Our Officers are determined to protect the American people from these illicit substances."
Manjarrez was arrested on charges of importation of a controlled substance and was turned over to the NYPD, the agency said.
Martinez will be prosecuted in Queens, the agency said.
