Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Drug mule caught sans leg to stand on

I wonder if the same ingenuity displayed by some criminals would’ve been better served elsewhere.

A Jamaican man is awaiting sentence after being caught in late November trying to smuggle a kilo of cocaine via John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. His arrest may not seem particularly newsworthy, but his method to try to sneak the drugs past security was certainly unique:

Customs inspectors stopped Stewart for a routine search after his Air Jamaica Flight 15 landed.

He told them he couldn't walk and wore prosthetic legs - which he claimed he couldn't remove, according to the complaint. Inspectors became suspicious because Stewart's round-trip ticket had been purchased in cash three days earlier, and Department of Homeland Security records showed he had traveled to the U.S. three times between June and August for brief visits…

Stewart's prosthetic legs were removed and X-rayed at Kennedy's medical facility.

Agents found multiple packages of cocaine concealed inside the limbs, according to the complaint.

Thank you Mr. Stewart for giving TSA “agents” more of an excuse to pinch, poke, and prod disabled travelers like myself every time we have to use air travel.

(Hat tip: Gothamist).

Sources- UPI, New York Daily News, Gothamist

Image- wcbstv.com


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