The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says officers at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport have nabbed a Jamaican national with cocaine in beef patties.
CBP said on Thursday that officers intercepted Chantal Alecia Bedward on arrival on a flight from Kingston, Jamaica on Tuesday.
During her examination, CBP officers discovered what appeared to be a box of Tastee Brand, Jamaican Beef Patties.
CBP said officers escorted Bedward to a private search room, where the box of beef patties was opened, revealing 12 duct-taped packages.
The packages were probed producing a white powder that tested positive for cocaine, CBP said.
It said Bedward was arrested for the importation of a controlled substance and was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The approximate gross weight of cocaine seized was 4 lbs., CBP said.
“This seizure demonstrates the vigilance and dedication demonstrated daily by CBP officers at JFK, in keeping these prohibited and dangerous narcotics off the streets of our communities,” said Robert E. Perez, Director, Field Operations in New York for CBP.
The estimated street value of the seized narcotic is US$70,000, CBP said.
Bedward now faces US federal narcotics smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office in the US Eastern District Court of New York.
