USA - 7 Delta workers among drug suspects arrested at JFK

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This from www.ajc.com:

7 Delta workers among drug suspects arrested at JFK

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on: 10/17/07

New York — Seven Delta Air Lines employees have been named by federal authorities as part of a New York drug ring that sought to smuggle drugs through John F. Kennedy Airport.
At least 18 people have been charged in the plot, including one at American Airlines and two others who worked at JFK.

Agents also intercepted the shipments of more than 100 pounds of cocaine, 55 pounds of heroin and 6.6 pounds of the drug ecstasy.
Authorities say the Delta employees were led by 38-year-old Jorge Espinal, a cargo supervisor. They identified 31-year old Henry Polanco as the leader of the drug ring.
The men were held without bail after an arraignment yesterday on narcotics conspiracy charges.
Prosecutors say the group concealed drugs in luggage on jets traveling from the Dominican Republic, then retrieved the bags at JFK before they could be inspected by customs agents.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials began investigating in 2005 after a suitcase containing cocaine and heroin was seized at JFK after arriving on a Delta flight.
An agent said in a court filing that in some cases workers who had unsupervised access to arriving flights removed the drug-filled bags from an airplane's cargo hold and walked off while avoiding security cameras.
Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly says the airline has been cooperating with the probe for several months.
She says each of the implicated employees has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation.
She said Delta performs a background check on every employee with access to secure airport zones, and that those arrested appeared to have passed that check.