Imperial Valley News

Jamaica, New york - United States Customs and Border Protection officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport Tuesday seized more than 40 pounds of cocaine during a smuggling attempt. Officers discovered the cocaine bundled inside a checked duffel bag that arrived on a flight from Georgetown, Guyana.

While CBP officers from the aircraft search team performed routine operations on inbound flights, a CBP canine officer conducted checks on the bags with his narcotics detector dog. “Fenja,” a 3-year old German Shepherd that has been working for CBP for the last year. Fenja alerted to a duffel bag that arrived on the flight.

The bag was never claimed by any of the passengers on the flight. An X-ray of the bag showed brick-like objects inside the bag.

CBP officers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, aided by a detector dog, were able to seize 40 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated street valued of $2 million.

CBP officers opened the bag and discovered 16 bricks of a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine. A total of 40 pounds of cocaine was seized and is estimated to have a street value of approximately $2 million.

The narcotics were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No arrests have been made in this case.

"This seizure demonstrates the continued vigilance of our CBP officers and canine teams in preventing our ports of entry from being exploited by narcotics traffickers," said Robert E. Perez, CBP field operations director in the New York region.

CBP officers frequently conduct enforcement operations on flights arriving from foreign locations to ensure security. These operations often include the use of canines to search for narcotics.