For the fifth time in as many weeks, Customs and Border Protection agents at Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday intercepted a large amount of drugs coming in on a flight from Guatemala.
Investigators tell News4 that agents found more than three kilograms of cocaine that were glued to the inside of five courier belts. The street value of the bust is as much as one million dollars.
This comes during what appears to be a sudden spike in drug activity going through the airport.
“We’ve definitely seen a rise at this airport,” said Dulles Airport supervisor Leonel Grullon. “This year alone had 50 pounds of heroin, another 52 pounds of cocaine.”
The first of the recent drug busts happened on September 15. Since then, agents have confiscated almost thirty pounds of illegal drugs from Guatemalan couriers, more than half of what agents seized in the 12-month period from October 2010 through September 2011.
In this most recent bust, the man who brought the drugs into the airport was interviewed and returned to Guatemala. He is barred from returning to the U.S. for a minimum of five years.
