26 Smuggled Cocaine at LMMIA: Puerto Rican Ring Busted

San Juan, Puerto Rico – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a massive federal indictment against 26 individuals accused of conspiring to smuggle multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine through the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (LMMIA). United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, led the announcement.

The defendants are alleged to have been involved in a long-running scheme, starting from an unknown date and continuing until April 10, 2017. Their goal was to transport the cocaine from LMMIA to major Eastern U.S. cities. The indictment names Humberto Concepción-Andrades as the leader of this Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) that coordinated the drug smuggling.

Concepción-Andrades is alleged to have supplied large amounts of cocaine, which was then smuggled by facilitators such as Jose Colón-Guzmán and Miguel García-Blasco. Garcia-Blasco, an employee at LMMIA, worked for both JetBlue Airlines and later Southwest Airlines. The scheme also involved employees from various companies associated with the airport, including Antilles Services, American Airlines, and the International Meal Company.

The indictment lists Harold Oliveras-Landrau, Rodney Pérez-Ortega, and other employees of Air Margaritaville as participants in the smuggling operation. Additionally, Luis Diaz-Colón, Miguel Ruiz-Delgado, and others from the American Airlines cargo department are accused of being involved.

Aimee Monegro-Polanco, the wife of Concepción-Andrades, is charged with funnelling proceeds through bank accounts of corporations they created to hide the source of the funds. The ring also used individuals such as Ángel Almodovar-García and David Figueroa-Colón as mules to physically transport the drugs from LMMIA to the U.S. mainland.

The case highlights the sophisticated methods employed by organized crime in drug smuggling operations and the cooperation between federal agencies in combating them.

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