On the same day a JetBlue Airways flight attendant who allegedly tried to carry 70 pounds of cocaine onto a plane at LAX was due to appear in court, two former baggage handlers at the airport were arrested today for allegedly smuggling cocaine past security as part of a nationwide drug ring.
Adrian Ponce, 27, and Alberto Preciado Gutierrez, 26, both of South Gate, were also expected to make initial court appearances today in downtown Los Angeles.
According to federal authorities, the pair were involved “in a nationwide conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine.” Ponce and Gutierrez allegedly used airport credentials to smuggle cocaine past security and pass it along to third-party couriers who took the drugs aboard commercial flights to deliver to customers on the East Coast.
Prosecutors said authorities seized a kilogram of cocaine from Gutierrez on Dec. 16, 2015, in a Terminal 3 restroom at Los Angeles International Airport, where he was trying to pass the drugs to a man planning to fly to New York on a JetBlue flight. Ponce, who was waiting for Gutierrez in a vehicle outside the terminal, was interviewed the next day and allegedly admitted that the pair took part in similar transactions on multiple occasions.
Gutierrez had been working for Swissport International at LAX, but he was fired by the company following the December drug seizure, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Ponce previously worked at LAX for a baggage-handling service that was recently acquired by Swissport.
Both men face 10 years to life in prison if convicted of drug trafficking, prosecutors said.
Their arrests came on the same day that Marsha Gay Reynolds, 31, was set to make an initial appearance in Los Angeles for allegedly trying to smuggle 70 pounds of cocaine aboard a flight from LAX on March 18. Authorities said Reynolds, a former Jamaican beauty contestant and college track-and-field athlete, had the drugs in her carry-on bags, but she kicked off her Gucci heels and fled when she was pulled aside for additional security screening at the airport.
Reynolds was arrested in New York.
