[www.inewsguyana.com] – A Trinidadian national observed “walking awkwardly” in Kennedy Airport was nabbed for smuggling nearly two pounds of heroin in his underwear, authorities said Tuesday.
Bernard Charles stepped off Caribbean Airlines flight No. 520 on April Fool’s Day and immediately caught the attention of Customs and Border Protection officers, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Charles, 42, was detained for an enforcement examination and appeared “visibly nervous” and “avoided eye contact” while the officers examined his suitcase, according to U.S. Homeland Security special agent Sean Gabay.
Focusing on Charles’ awkward gait, the officers patted him down and discovered a “hard object in the defendant’s groin area,” Gabay stated in the complaint. Probing further, the officers discovered two plastic packages of a brown paste-like substance which tested positive for heroin. The drugs have a street value of more than US$70,000, authorities said.
Charles was ordered held without bail. He faces 10 years in prison if convicted of the drug smuggling charges.
“This seizure is just another example of our Customs and Border Patrol officers being ever vigilant in protecting the United States from the distribution of these illegal drugs,” said New York Field Operations Director Robert Perez in a statement.[New York Daily News]
