Four flight attendants abused “their privileges as airline employees” and smuggled “millions of dollars in drug money” from New York City to the Dominican Republic, federal authorities said Wednesday.
The suspects had access to the “Known crew member (KCM)“track in John F. Kennedy International Airport, giving them a quick, X-ray-free passage through security, officials said.
“In fact, given these more relaxed security procedures, KCM privileges allow flight attendants to bypass airport security with large amounts of cash without that cash being seized,” said a complaint written by a special agent with Investigations. of Homeland Security.
Charlie Hernandez, 42; Sarah Valério Pujols, 24; Emmanuel Torres, 34; and Jarol Fabio, 35, face multiple charges related to “unlicensed money transmission,” prosecutors said.
Hernandez lives in West New York, New Jersey, while the other three defendants reside in New York City, authorities said.
They are accused of smuggling about $8 million in total in “bulk cash” into the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, these flight attendants smuggled millions of dollars in drug money and law enforcement funds that they thought was drug money from the United States into the Dominican Republic over many years, abusing their privileges as airline employees.” , U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
An informant gave Hernandez $121,215 — funds “derived from drug trafficking” — and then gave Pujols $61,215 of that money to take to the Dominican Republic in December 2019, according to the complaint.
Torres is accused of smuggling at least $1.5 million in drug money into the Dominican Republic between 2015 and 2022, the complaint states. Fabio allegedly stole $1.5 million between 2015 and 2023, federal authorities said.
Delta Airlines confirmed that two of the defendants work for the Atlanta-based airline.
“Delta has fully cooperated with authorities in this investigation and will continue to do so,” the airline said in a statement.
The four were arrested on Tuesday, a Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson said.
A lawyer for Pujols said his client is no longer in custody but declined further comment.
An attorney for Fabio could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. There were no attorneys immediately listed in court records for Hernandez and Torres.
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