St. Thomas, USVI – In a stunning turn of events at Cyril E. King Airport, Keilin Lopez Lopez, 22, of St. Thomas, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for his brazen attempt to stash 4 kilograms of cocaine in an airport restroom.
Court documents reveal that on July 31, 2020, a vigilant Virgin Islands Port Authority employee spotted Lopez tampering with a trashcan in the men’s restroom. Upon inspection, officers discovered two brick-shaped bundles containing the illegal substance hidden within a wall recess.
Surveillance footage put Lopez at the scene of the crime, and as an employee for a subcontractor working on the airport remodel, his connection to the facility was undeniable. After waiving his rights, Lopez confessed to placing the bundles inside the wall after removing the trashcan.
The investigation was a collaborative effort between Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, with Assistant United States Attorney Juan Albino leading the prosecution.
This case is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which targets top-level criminal organizations. For more information on OCDETF, visit https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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Key Facts
- State: Virgin Islands
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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