"Airport officials accuse elderly woman of smuggling heroin"

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Airport officials accuse elderly woman of smuggling heroin
Passenger, 74, arrested after Bogota flight
By Joel Marino
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 
FORT LAUDERDALE - Authorities say an elderly woman flying in from Colombia
packed more than souvenirs in her suitcase - she is accused of also stashing
6.5 pounds of heroin in notebooks, slippers and a jewelry case.

Customs officers arrested Maria Arenas, 74, on Thursday after a luggage
inspection at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

"We don't see something like this every day, but smugglers run the gamut of
ages and types," said Zachary Mann, South Florida spokesman for U.S. Customs
and Border Protection.

Arenas was charged with importation of heroin and possession with intent to
distribute the drug. If convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of life
in prison. Officials did not say where she's being held.

This is what officials say led to her arrest:

Arenas stepped off the plane from Bogota about 3 p.m. and walked down the
terminal to a checkpoint, just like everyone else on the flight.

She presented customs officials with the required documents, then turned
over her luggage for inspection. Inspectors decided to look through the
individual contents of her bag after a preliminary search. That's when
officers found the stash.

Authorities say Arenas hid bags of brown powder in the false cavities of
women's slippers, sewed in the lining of notebook binders and concealed in a
single jewelry case.

Field tests confirmed the substance was heroin, the U.S. Attorney's Office
said. The drug's street value was estimated at $180,000, Mann said.

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