A JetBlue flight attendant accused of using her credentials to attempt to get 70 pounds of cocaine through airport security in Los Angeles before flinging off her heels and fleeing, has been arrested in New York, authorities said.
Marsha Gay Reynolds surrendered Wednesday to federal authorities at John F. Kennedy International Airport, though it wasn’t immediately clear how she reached New York, federal officials said.
Reynolds, a New York resident, was expected to be in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday, according to U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Reynolds was charged with cocaine possession with intent to distribute. It was unclear if she yet had an attorney.
On Friday, Reynolds arrived at an LAX checkpoint in Terminal 4 wearing jeans, heels and a black suit jacket, carrying her “known crew member badge,” according to an FBI affidavit in support of the charge against Reynolds. It wasn’t immediately clear whether she was on duty at the time.
Samuel reported that Reynolds was talking on the phone in a foreign language as she was being taken to a secondary screening area, the affidavit says.
“At this time, Reynolds dropped her carry-on luggage, removed her shoes and began to run away,” according to the affidavit.
LAX police soon after found 11 packages of cocaine wrapped in green cellophane and labeled, “BIG Ranch” inside one of the bags Reynolds had left behind, the affidavit says.
Security threats from “insiders,” including airline and airport employees and workers hired by contractors, have been a focus of the TSA, particularly after the December 2014 arrest of several Delta Air Lines baggage handlers. Prosecutors allege they smuggled guns, including an AK-47, from Atlanta to New York.
“We will pay particular attention to the insider threat,” TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told a Senate committee earlier this month.
source: WTOP.com