Aviation News

2012-10-22

American Airlines Baggage Handlers Took Apart Planes to Hide Drugs

More articles by admin »

Written by: admin
Tags: airport security, Barbados-Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI), crime, drugs, New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Victor Bourne

A former American Airlines baggage handler has been sentenced to three life sentences plus an extra 35 years for running a drug smuggling ring out of New York’s JFK International Airport and Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados.

Victor Bourne led an operation in which he and 19 other convicted employees would hide bricks of cocaine inside the luggage of passengers as well as cargo containers and within the panels of the aircraft themselves.

American Airlines Flight 1384, the daily service from Barbados to JFK, was characterized as the “Cocaine Express” in the 2011 trial that led to Bourne’s conviction.

In one instance, Bourne’s crew actually dismantled and reattached parts of a plane’s wing before and after carrying a full flight of passengers nearly 2,100 miles. Judge Nicholas Garaufis, formerly chief counsel at the FAA, mentioned the danger of such activity and said he hoped Bourne’s stiff sentence would discourage it from happening again.

About the Author

admin

More articles by admin »

Northern Pacific Boeing 757 with black and white livery on fuselage and tail, aurora borealis inspired splash of color on winglets, and similarly colored N on the tail.

Northern Pacific Airways Unveils First Aircraft

New airline Northern Pacific Airways unveiled their first aircraft on Tuesday evening in an event held at San Bernardino International Airport.

by Rufus Powell

Full Story »

Onboard Breeze Airways First Flight From Louisville

Back in June, 2018, the aviation community first heard of a possible new airline, to be partly founded by David Neeleman. The founder of JetBlue Airways, Azul Brazilian Airlines, WestJet, and ...

by Tom Rainey

Full Story »

A Step Towards Normalcy At The Jones Beach Airshow

A year after being cancelled at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Airshow at Jones Beach returns for 2021.

by Scott Snorteland

Full Story »

SWISS Shows Off Its Revamped JFK Lounge

NYCAviation toured the fully-remodeled SWISS International lounge at JFK's Terminal 4

by Eric Dunetz

Full Story »

The Future of Business Aviation in Focus at NBAA BACE

The business aviation community will be gathering in Las Vegas this week for the annual NBAA Business Aviation Convention and Exposition (BACE).

by Gabe Andino

Full Story »

Blaze Wheeler

The executors of the war on drugs should get 3 life sentences each – I’ll leave out the added 35 years because it’s a waste of paperwork. Idiots.
- Satariel
  
  So you don’t mind people stuffing your planes wings with bricks of cocaine that could interfere with the hydraulic mechanisms necessary for controlling the aircraft? You sound smart, “blaze”. Why don’t you go “blaze” some more pot up and leave the important decisions to the sober people.
  - Matt
    
    If there was no “war” on drugs, then people wouldnt need to take such drastic measures to make sure their product arrives. Read up on prohibition a little bit and maybe you will sound a little smarter.
    - jeffmd
      
      The 3 life time sentence was not for smuggling drugs, it was for dismantling the plane and putting hundreds of passengers and anyone on the ground at risk should the plane crash. You could replace drugs with “ivory tusk” or “counterfeit money” and the result would be the same, they charged them for endangering the life of others, not for the product they smuggled.
Johnny Law

Really? 3 life sentences? Taking a plane apart to hide drugs and put thousands at risk on those flights. Now he gets to live like a king on the cartels dime inside. NY State cost of incarceration: 60,076 a year out of taxpayer pockets.

Copyright © 2024 NYCAviation All Rights Reserved.