In the last two years, the DEA and other agencies have reported an increase in the size of cocaine shipments seized around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Nearly 8,200 pounds (3,700 kilograms) have been seized as of May this year, compared with 10,800 pounds (4,900 kilograms) seized last year and more than 8,300 pounds (3,800 kilograms) in 2010.
Federal agents raided Puerto Rico’s international airport Wednesday, arresting at least 33 people for allegedly smuggling millions of dollars worth of cocaine and heroine on commercial flights since 1999.
Three other suspects were arrested in the mainland United States: two workers at Miami’s international airport and another at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The suspects were members of two Puerto Rico-based drug trafficking organizations that would work with each other, and one of them was run by a woman, officials said.
“We have dismantled the two most significant drug operations at the airport,” said Pedro Janer, acting special agent in charge of the DEA’s Caribbean division.
The suspects are accused of helping move thousands of pounds of cocaine and several pounds of heroin from Puerto Rico to several U.S. cities including Miami and Newark, New Jersey, from 1999 to 2009, according to the DEA.
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