3 airline workers face drug charges involving jet

Thursday, May 3, 2012
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

ATLANTA (AP) -- Three airport workers are accused of trying to bring heroin and methamphetamine into the U.S. on a commercial jet, authorities said Thursday.

The workers are charged with conspiring to smuggle more than $500,000 of drugs into the country on a Delta Air Lines flight from Mexico, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.

Federal authorities say the case involves Delta Flight 364, which arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from Mexico City on Jan. 13.

Investigators zeroed in on the airline workers after heroin and meth were found in an unclaimed bag on a carousel, prosecutors said in a statement announcing the charges.

Investigators then began interviewing one of the suspects, described as the performance leader for the shift of ramp employees who off-loaded the baggage from Flight 364. Investigators say they found incriminating text messages between him and two other airline workers around the time the flight was arriving.

The three suspects -- 35-year-old Luis Marroquin of Atlanta; 41-year-old Carlos Springer of Hampton; and 27-year-old Kelvin Rondon of Atlanta -- all face charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin and attempting to import the drugs into the U.S.

All three men were indicted by a federal grand jury this week, authorities said. It wasn't known Thursday whether they have attorneys representing them.

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