“I wanted to give us the best opportunity to control the situation,” she said.Ī few years later, Mitchell hired two more certified aircraft mechanics, Frank Morrelli and Danny Gonzalez, but these men were also U.S. “It was highly likely they were subject to compromise as well, and that became a vulnerability for us.” So Mitchell decided to hire a retired Navy aircraft mechanic who could work with the canine unit. “The industry we were regulating and policing had to come onboard to access some of these compartments,” said Mitchell. “That could impact the airworthiness of the plane, so we had to get mechanics from the airlines to assist us,” said Susan Mitchell, then-port director at JFK. But the inspectors couldn’t access the more technical areas of the plane where the avionics are housed. Customs Service, one of CBP’s legacy agencies, along with canines searched aircraft. In 1989, when JFK hired its first certified aircraft mechanic, it was a novel concept. “We see more flights from more parts of the world than any other airport in the country,” said Frank Russo, CBP’s port director at JFK Airport, noting that in 2017, JFK had more than 77,000 commercial flights of which the Aircraft Search Team inspected a targeted percentage. of hashish, 28 pounds of heroin, and 3.2 pounds of ecstasy.Īs an international crossroad, JFK is prone to smuggling. During the last six years alone, the Aircraft Search Team officers at JFK have intercepted 32 illegal drug shipments including 266 pounds of cocaine, 90 pounds of marijuana, 42 pounds. Since its inception at JFK more than 20 years ago, the Aircraft Search team has performed thousands of searches leading to numerous seizures-most pertaining to drugs. This specialized capability allows CBP to take a closer look at hidden compartments within aircraft without involving airline personnel, who could potentially tip off internal conspirators. The Aircraft Search Team, comprised of 10 CBP officers based at JFK Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, are all certified, FAA-licensed aircraft mechanics, authorized to conduct inspections of aircraft including the cockpit, engines, hydraulics, avionics, and cargo areas of a plane. “I always look at places where you have to think like a crook to catch a crook,” he said.īehind the scenes at two of the country’s busiest international airports, a unique team of CBP officers tackles one of the agency’s greatest challenges, uncovering internal conspiracies with airline employees who use aircraft to smuggle illegal contraband.
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You could get electrocuted and die,” said Sukhra. “Nobody in his right mind would do something like this. This was an eye opener for me,” said Mohammed, a certified aircraft mechanic who in his previous work had never focused on using commercial airliners for smuggling. The bricks were dangerously piled on top of wires that could easily become dislodged and set the plane on fire.“ His colleague, CBP Officer Ishwardyal Sukhra, had discovered five bricks of cocaine on a flight from the Dominican Republic, hidden in a high-voltage, electrical cabinet where all of the aircraft’s computers are stored. Kennedy International Airport in New York, he observed his first narcotics seizure. Photo by Donna BurtonĪ few weeks after CBP Officer Shazard Mohammed joined the Aircraft Search Team at John F.
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Below, CBP Officer Ramon Santaliz, right, and Jaime Rocafuerte, CBP’s deputy chief of passenger operations at JFK Airport, search an airplane’s flight deck. Behind the scenes at two of the nation’s busiest international airports, a unique team of CBP officers uncovers internal conspiracies involving airline and airport employees.