LOS ANGELES |
(Reuters) - Two security screeners at Los Angeles International Airport have been arrested on drug trafficking and corruption charges, accused of taking bribes to allow large narcotic shipments through the airport, authorities said on Wednesday.Two security screeners at Los Angeles International Airport have been arrested on drug trafficking and corruption charges, accused of taking bribes to allow large narcotic shipments through the airport, authorities said on Wednesday.
The pair were arrested along with two former airport screeners. Authorities said the screeners allowed drugs to pass through x-ray machine checkpoints in five incidents in exchange for payments of as much as $2,400.
The arrests mark one of the first instances in which employees of the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees screening checkpoints at airports across the nation, have been accused of complicity in drug smuggling, a spokesman for the agency said.
Naral Richardson, 30, who was terminated from his job with the Transportation Security Administration in 2010, was accused of orchestrating the five smuggling incidents.
He was charged with five counts of conspiracy , five counts of possession with the intent to distribute narcotics and two counts of offering bribes to public officials. He and a former screener, along with two current screeners, face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
The other individuals indicted in the case included Joy White, a 27-year-old TSA screener who was fired last year for an unrelated matter, and current screener Capeline McKinney, 25.
One suspected drug courier was in state custody in the case and another was expected to surrender on Thursday.
Comment ............Who are they hiring to do this job? I can't imagine doing this for a living...
1 comment:
Excellent information...........security x-ray machine
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