Father, son ‘cracked’ allegedly with cocaine in suitcase handles

Last Updated on Friday, 20 June 2014, 21:11 by GxMedia

Guyanese anti-drug agents on Friday blocked the smuggling of cocaine in suitcase handles to New York, less than one month after an American citizen was caught using the same method on his arrival in the United States (US).

Well-placed sources said members of the Police Anti Narcotics Unit and the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) arrested a father and his son with the cocaine in bag handles.

The 41-year old man and his 19-year old son-both from North Road, Georgetown- were arrested shortly before they were due to board a Caribbean Airlines BW 528 flight to New York.

Police said that about 3:25 PM, a search on the baggage of a Guyanese man on an outgoing flight at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport revealed  “a quantity of cocaine in the handles of his suitcases.”

 Sources said that Guyanese anti-drug agents are now more vigilant since a man was caught on at  June 5 the John F. Kennedy International Airport with cocaine stashed in his suitcase handles. He had just arrived from Guyana.

Warren Hawk, of East Hartford, Conn., was stopped for further inspection on June 5 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers noticed that the handle rails on his suitcase were “unusually thick,” CPB spokesman Anthony Bucci said in a news release.

Hawk was escorted to a private search room where officers searched his suitcase, Bucci said. Officers found approximately 4.82 pounds of cocaine, a street value of more than $82,000, according to Bucci.