Airline Workers Accused of Smuggling Meth
- Federal prosecutors charged two Envoy Air workers at Los Angeles International Airport, Alejandro Medina Beltran and Luis Armando Valenzuela, with possessing methamphetamine for distribution after arrests at the airport this week. - Investigators say the men used employee access to bypass passenger screening, swapped backpacks with a courier in terminal bathrooms, and now face a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence if convicted. - The case revives a long-running insider-smuggling problem at LAX, where earlier prosecutions also centered on workers using badges to defeat screening. (justice.gov)
Two Envoy Air workers at Los Angeles International Airport were charged this week with federal methamphetamine trafficking crimes after investigators said they used employee access to move drugs past screening. (cbsnews.com) (nbclosangeles.com) The men were identified as Alejandro Medina Beltran, 23, of Compton, and Luis Armando Valenzuela, 29, of Inglewood. Both were arrested at LAX on Tuesday, April 22, and made an initial court appearance on Thursday, April 23. (mynewsla.com) (kesq.com) Prosecutors charged both men with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life. (cbsnews.com) (2urbangirls.com) According to accounts of the federal allegations, the men worked for Envoy Air, the regional carrier owned by American Airlines, and used employee shuttles and secure-area access that let them avoid the screening lines passengers face. (ussanews.com) (msn.com) Investigators say the smuggling method was simple: a courier entered the terminal as a passenger, and the airport workers allegedly exchanged backpacks with that courier inside terminal bathrooms before flights. (msn.com 1) (msn.com 2) The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division said its LAX Task Force is investigating. Federal officials have not publicly tied this case to a larger trafficking ring. (nbclosangeles.com) (msn.com) LAX has seen versions of this before. In 2021, a former Transportation Security Administration officer pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle what he believed was methamphetamine through the airport for $8,000. (justice.gov) In 2022, that former officer, Michael Williams of Hawthorne, was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Prosecutors said he had used his position to bypass screening and move packages through LAX. (justice.gov) The airport has also faced earlier badge-access cases involving baggage handlers and screeners. Federal prosecutors in 2015 and 2017 described workers using employee credentials to breach secure areas and move cocaine or other narcotics. (justice.gov 1) (justice.gov 2) This case now turns on whether prosecutors can prove the airport workers used that same insider advantage to move meth through one of the country’s busiest airports. (cbsnews.com) (justice.gov)
