Employees performing maintenance on two JetBlue planes in a hangar in Lake City, Florida discovered several kilos of cocaine aboard the aircrafts last Wednesday. Between the two planes, maintenance personnel discovered and turned over a total of three kilos of coke.
News4Jaxreports the planes where the cocaine was discovered last week were in Lake City specifically for maintenance when HAECO Americas employees working on the planes discovered the drugs. The fact that the cocaine was turned over at the hangar has lead authorities to believe that the drugs were ultimately intended for another destination.
According to WFTV 9 in Florida, the HAECO employees found the cocaine stashed in the walls of the luggage department located under the right wing of the plane. The first of the two planes had previously flown from the Dominican Republic to JFK in New York, but the flight itinerary of the second plane is not currently known, WFTV 9 reported.
News4Jax reported local police do not yet know whether or not the drugs were brought on board the planes inside the United States or outside the country, nor where the drugs were intended to be sent. The Columbia County Sheriff's Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration are currently investigating. If the drugs originated outside the U.S., Interpol will participate in the investigation as well.
This is not the first cocaine bust JetBlue has been involved with recently. A flight attendant for the airline was caught trying to smuggle nearly 60 pounds of coke in March through Los Angeles International Airport. 32-year-old Marsha Gay Reynolds plead not-guilty in May to a charge of possession with intent to distribute.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Department and JetBlue did not immediately reply to Complex's requests for comment.
