Woman Caught With 5 Kilos Of Cocaine at Bradley Airport: Feds

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — A resident of Puerto Rico arrested Sunday at Bradley International Airport after being caught with more than five kilograms of cocaine in her luggage was released on $100,000 bond Thursday after appearing before a federal judge.

Hecmarieliz Cruz-Acevedo, 22, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, according to Leonard C. Boyle, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and William S. Walker, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations in Boston.

Court documents indicate on Sunday, Homeland Security Investigations received information from U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors at San Juan International Airport that Cruz-Acevedo had boarded a flight to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, with a final destination of Bradley International Airport, and had checked a piece of luggage that contained five rectangular-shaped objects consistent with narcotics packages, Boyle said.

After the flight landed in Windsor Locks, a Connecticut State Police canine detected the presence of narcotics in the checked bag. Investigators stopped Cruz-Acevedo when she retrieved the luggage at baggage claim, and a search of the bag revealed five individual parcels, each containing slightly more than one kilogram of cocaine, located between articles of clothing, Boyle said.

The charge of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and a maximum term of imprisonment of life, Boyle said.

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