US customs agent charged in drug mule scheme at JFK airport
NEW YORK (AP) - A customs agent at Kennedy Airport has been arrested in a scheme to help two drug couriers sneak 45 kilos of cocaine past screeners.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Fernando Marte was arrested last week. He was still in custody on Tuesday on charges of conspiring to smuggle drugs.
A criminal complaint says security video shows Marte greeting a man and a woman after they arrived Feb. 7 on a flight from the Dominican Republic. It accuses him of escorting them through two inspection points so they could claim bags without having them checked.
After other officers became suspicious, they intercepted the pair and discovered the cocaine in the bags.
There was no immediate response to requests for comment either from Marte's lawyer or from U.S. customs.