FA Who Ditched 68 Pounds of Coke and Fled LAX Surrenders at JFK
Jeff Edwards March 24, 2016
A JetBlue flight attendant who fled a TSA checkpoint leaving behind more than 68 pounds of cocaine was arrested Wednesday in New York.
The JetBlue flight attendant who made headlines last week after allegedly kicking off her shoes and making a run for it just before Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners uncovered a large amount of drugs in her luggage at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) surrendered to police on Wednesday. Authorities say 32-year-old Marsha Gay Reynolds turned herself in to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
The flight attendant and accused drug trafficker realized the gig was up shortly after being singled out for a random inspection by TSA screeners at LAX. “Upon arriving at this checkpoint, Reynolds dropped her luggage, removed her shoes, and fled the area, running down an upward-traveling escalator and away from TSA Agents,” prosecutors told reporters.
Law enforcement at the checkpoint did not pursue the escaping flight attendant and were more concerned about the potential for “explosives or any dangerous devices” in the bags she left behind. Instead, authorities say they found more than 68 pounds of cocaine in the abandoned luggage. The drugs were wrapped in 11 separate packages, each parcel marked with the words “Big Ranch.”
Officials at LAX confirmed that crew members are not normally subject to bag searches, but that Reynolds was randomly selected for additional screening. In December, the TSA announced plans to step up the number of crew members and airport workers subjected to additional security scrutiny after several similar high-profile security breaches involving airport and airline employees.
Federal prosecutors admitted that they were especially troubled that Reynolds used her credentials as a flight attendant in an attempt to avoid interdiction. “Our nation’s security depends on every individual with security clearances to honor the trust placed in them,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement to ABC News. “The defendant’s conduct violated that trust and, in the process, exposed the public to a major narcotics transaction and the dangers inherent to such a transaction.”
According to the Daily Breeze, in addition to being a JetBlue flight attendant, Marsha Gay Reynolds is a former beauty queen who was second runner-up to Miss Jamaica in 2008. Reynolds now faces a minimum of 10 years in jail, if convicted.
[Photo: Los Angeles Airport Police/Facebook]
Make everyone run through the TSA checkpoints like we have to so they can see how horrible it can be.
that's it 10 years if convicted, what do you mean if?
There are certain employee groups that need to be screened closer than other groups. Still cracks me up that TSA doesn't get screened when they arrive for work but yet they are the worst offenders as a group.
Run, Lola, Run...
Many major airports, those that have thousands of people working in and around the secure and sterile areas, already conduct various types of security, whether it be basic WTMD and bag x ray scanning as they enter, or whether it be a random selection for additional screening. This is done because it just isn't feasible to screen all those employees as they come and go, especially those that may cross between secure and non secure multiple times a day. Random additional screening, in theory, can help to deter this type of behavior, because if you end up being the unlucky selectee like this FA, it's all over.