More than a ton of cocaine was found hidden in a shipment of fresh fish

August 30, 1999
Web posted at: 9:46 p.m. EDT (0146 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- U.S. Customs officials suspect an "inside job" after more than a ton of cocaine was found hidden in a shipment of fresh fish at an Arrow Air cargo facility near Miami International Airport.

Customs pretended to clear the fishy shipment Monday, but no one came to pick it up. That makes authorities suspect the smugglers were tipped off.

"We have reason to believe people on the airport might have been involved to the extent that the people who were supposed to receive this were advised of the inspection," said Don Clark of the U.S. Customs Service.

Customs spokesman Michael Sheehan said a conspiracy to import the drugs is believed to involve ramp workers, but he could not say definitively whether they were employees of Arrow Air, contract employees, or employees of another airline.

No arrests have been made at this time, Sheehan said.

He said 2,720 pounds of cocaine -- worth about $21 million wholesale and much more on the streets -- was found inside 22 of 50 boxes of ice-packed fresh fish that arrived on a pre- dawn flight from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The cocaine was discovered during a routine inspection using X-ray machines

A routine inspection using X-ray machines exposed the kilo- sized "bricks" below layers of grouper, tuna and congrio inside long, coffin-shaped Styrofoam coolers packed with ice.

Arrow Air commended the Customs Service for "its excellent work today," noting its own security measures have thwarted illegal shipments on its planes in the past and pledging to cooperate with Customs in resolving this case and preventing future such incidents.

Last Wednesday, nearly 60 American Airlines ramp workers and food caterers from Lufthansa Sky Chefs International at Miami International Airport were hit with drug smuggling conspiracy charges after a sting operation that used fake cocaine.

With law enforcement agents calling security at the airport intolerable, this latest bust is one more example, authorities say, that airlines and airports need to do more to prevent drug smuggling.

Correspondent Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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