Janisha Amalee Atkins , 33, was busted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after she arrived at New York’s Kennedy Airport aboard a JetBlue flight from Montego Bay.
Atkins now faces federal narcotics smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Eastern District Court of New York.
During the course of the inspection on September 19th, CBP officers said they discovered two pairs of platform shoes that felt unusually heavy in the passenger’s luggage.
Atkins was escorted to a private search room where the officers probed the shoes and discovered a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine.
CBP officers say they continued examining the luggage and discovered a pocketbook that also felt unusually heavy. Atkins’ pocketbook was probed and it also revealed a white powdery substance that also tested positive for cocaine.
Atkins was arrested for the importation of a controlled substance and was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. The total weight of cocaine seized was approximately 3.7 lbs. with an approximate street value of more than US$64,000.
“This latest seizure demonstrates the vigilance of our CBP officers, and their excellence in detecting those who would try to smuggle these illegal substances,” said Robert E. Perez, Director, Field Operations New York.
In recent months, several Caribbean nationals have been busted with cocaine at JFK including a Trinidad national who had tried to hide the drug in cooked goat meat.
