NEW YORK CITY (WFLA) — A woman from the Dominican Republic was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after officers say they found 28 pounds of cocaine in her wheelchair.
A CBP release said on Nov. 10, Emelinda Paulino De Rivas arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
The Dominican national was selected by CBP officers for an interview, who noticed that the wheels on the woman’s wheelchair did not turn.
The agents x-rayed the wheels only to discover a white powder coming from the tires when they probed them.
The wheels were stuffed with 28 pounds of cocaine, which is worth a street value of $450,000. Officials said there was enough cocaine to cause “roughly 6,000 lethal doses.”
De Rivas will now be spending an extended amount of time in the United States after being arrested on federal narcotics smuggling charges, according to the release.
