Texas Airport Workers Smuggled Fake Meth Into Newark: Prosecutor

A federal grand jury has indicted 10 would-be methamphetamine smugglers for allegedly conspiring to traffic more than 145 pounds of fake drugs from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to three other airports across the country, including Newark, New Jersey.

As part of a drug sting that kicked off in August 2016, undercover federal agents supplied a group of 10 workers at DFW Airport with more than 66 kilograms – or 145 pounds – of “counterfeit” meth. The workers then allegedly used their positions at Dallas-Fort Worth to bypass security measures and help sneak the fake drugs onto commercial airline flights bound for Newark, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (Northern District of Texas) said.

In return, they accepted payment for the transportation and delivery of the counterfeit drugs, prosecutors said.

The alleged drug smugglers were arrested Tuesday and will make their initial appearances before a federal judge later this week on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a schedule II controlled substance.

Arrested in the sting were:

• Nelson Pabon, 47
• Jean Loui Vargas-Malave, 28
• Juan Camacho Melendez, aka “Kendo Kaponi” and “Anthony,” 22
• Ruben Benitez-Matienzo, 45
• Jose Luis Gaston-Rolon, 24
• Joshua Israel Pagan Zapata, 21
• Domingo Villafane Martinez, III, 30
• Luis Javier Collazo Rosado, aka “Luisito,” 21
• Michael Lnu, 23
• Cristian David Cruz-Rodriguez, 23

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