A Puerto Rican police officer found himself entangled in a drug smuggling operation aimed at transporting cocaine into Florida.
The revelation came as Stephen Muldrow, the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, alongside Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), disclosed charges against Zachary Quiñones-Bon, Jouseph Quiñones-Andino, and Alexander Martínez-Andino.
The allegations
The trio stands accused of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute approximately 67 kilograms of cocaine.
Notably, Quiñones-Bon faces an additional charge of possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c).
Court documents unveiled
According to court documents unveiled by US prosecutors, on March 17, 2024, Quiñones-Bon, serving as a police officer stationed at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, allegedly leveraged his credentials and uniform to gain access to one of the airport terminals.
Armed with his police-issued firearm, Quiñones-Bon purportedly passed luggage filled with cocaine to Quiñones-Andino and Martínez-Andino within the terminal premises.
Operation details
Once in possession of the contraband, Quiñones-Andino and Martínez-Andino reportedly proceeded to a bathroom, where they unloaded the cocaine into different bags, as per the prosecution’s claims.
Legal ramifications
Should the defendants be found guilty of the drug trafficking conspiracy, they could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Furthermore, Quiñones-Bon faces an additional mandatory consecutive sentence of five years to life imprisonment for the firearms charge.
