An American Airlines mechanic is accused of using his access to secure areas to smuggle cocaine into the US from Jamaica.
The revelation was made after American Airlines flight 1249 arrived at JFK from Montego Bay on February 4, 2020.
Court documents further disclose that 10 bricks of cocaine were found hidden behind a blanket in a compartment underneath the plane’s cockpit.
According to court documents, the cocaine packages were recovered from the section of the aircraft that houses the electronics system and a sting operation was set up to catch the culprit.
Court documents revealed that officers had replaced the narcotics with sham bricks that were sprayed with a substance that glows when illuminated under certain types of light.
52-year-old Paul Belloisi is said to have entered the same electronics compartment as passengers had began boarding for a return flight.
Officers who examined Bellosis said the same substance that was sprayed onto the fake brick appeared on his gloves.
Belloisi who has worked with American Airlines for over 3-decades is said to have an immaculate work record and has no previous criminal history.
Belloisi is currently out on bond and has been removed from work pending the outcome of the investigation.
