Life Sentence for JFK Baggage Handler Convicted of Smuggling Cocaine
A former American Airlines baggage handler was sentenced to life in prison Oct. 16 for his leadership of an international drug trafficking organization, said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Victor Bourne led an organization that smuggled narcotics from the Caribbean into the United States through John F. Kennedy International Airport, ICE said. Bourne was convicted in October 2011.
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Between 2000 and 2009, the Bourne organization utilized corrupt employees of commercial airlines, including American Airlines, working at domestic and international ports of entry to smuggle illegal narcotics into the U.S. and throughout the Caribbean, ICE alleged. Bourne paid dispatching crew chiefs at American Airlines to assign crews of baggage handlers, who were paid tens of thousands of dollars by the Bourne organization to retrieve the cocaine from the flights upon arrival, ICE said. The cocaine smuggled aboard American Airlines flights into JFK was hidden behind panels in the front and rear cargo holds, the ceiling, wing assembly, avionics, and other vital equipment compartments.
After removing the cocaine from these locations, the corrupt baggage handlers hid the drugs inside their coats and airline equipment bags to avoid detection by law enforcement and safely transport the drugs to Bourne, ICE said. The government alleged that the Bourne organization was responsible for the import into the U.S. of over 150 kilograms of cocaine. At the time of his arrest in 2009, Bourne was preparing to transport even larger quantities of cocaine in cargo containers from the Caribbean to the U.S., ICE said.
The evidence presented by the government at trial included testimony from six former American Airlines employees who pleaded guilty to narcotics trafficking charges resulting from their participation in the Bourne organization. Each witness described Bourne's control of the drug smuggling operation, including the recruitment and payment of his workers, the secret locations on the aircraft where the cocaine was hidden, and the growth of the organization over time, ICE said. One of the employees recounted a conversation in which Bourne stated, in substance, that he "started with half a kilo, then got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 30, 50."
Another government witness, an American Airlines employee at JFK who was not involved in drug trafficking, testified that Bourne accused him of stealing two kilograms of cocaine, ICE said. This witness testified that Bourne threatened to "kill me, my family, my kids" if the drugs were not returned. Shortly thereafter, Bourne confronted the same employee at the airport and pushed him off of a truck, causing a neck injury, ICE said.