TSA Experiences

[Andrea]

http://www.news10.net/story/news/nation/2015/02/09/serial-stowaway-slips-aboard-jacksonville-flight/23155913/

She does it again!

"An alleged serial stowaway who somehow slipped past airport security onto a flight to Jacksonville and then reportedly talked her way into a villa at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort had to change her accommodations Monday morning — to a cell at the Nassau County Jail."

[*Anya*]

$1 Billion TSA Behavioral Screening Program Slammed as Ineffective “Junk Science”


The Transportation Security Administration(TSA) has been accused of spending a billion dollars on a passenger-screening program that’s based on junk science.

The claim arose in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has tried unsuccessfully to get the TSA to release documents on its SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques) program through the Freedom of Information Act.

SPOT, whose techniques were first used in 2003 and formalized in 2007, uses “highly questionable” screening techniques, according to the ACLU complaint, while being “discriminatory, ineffective, pseudo-scientific, and wasteful of taxpayer money.” TSA has spent at least $1 billion on SPOT.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2010 that “TSA deployed SPOT nationwide before first determining whether there was a scientifically valid basis for using behavior detection and appearance indicators as a means for reliably identifying passengers as potential threats in airports,” according to the ACLU. And in 2013, GAO recommended that the agency spend less money on the program, which uses 3,000 “behavior detection officers” whose jobs is to identify terrorists before they board jetliners.

The ACLU contends SPOT uses racial profiling, even though TSA has a zero-tolerance policy for such singling out of people based on their ethnicity. The lawsuit says “passengers, as well as behavior detection officers themselves, have complained that this process results in subjecting people of Middle Eastern descent or appearance, African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities to additional questioning and screening solely on the basis of their race.”

Furthermore, “there is no known instance in which these techniques were responsible for apprehending someone who posed a security threat” after years of using SPOT.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-...23?news=856031



To Learn More:

TSA Asked to Divulge Screening Techniques (by Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service)

ACLU Sues TSA over Behavior Screening Program (by Bart Jansen, USA Today)

American Civil Liberties Union v. Transportation Security Administration (U.S. District Court, Southern New York) (pdf)

Request Under Freedom of Information Act/Expedited Processing Requested(American Civil Liberties Union) (pdf)

TSA Behavior Detection Technique Deemed Not Much Better than “Chance” (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

[Andrea]

“there is no known instance in which these techniques were responsible for apprehending someone who posed a security threat” after years of using SPOT.

Not to be confused with there is no known instance where anything TSA has done has resulted in deterring a terrorist incident.

[Andrea]

Hundreds More Airport SIDA Badges Missing

New information to an ongoing NBC 5 investigation found hundreds of airport security badges, known as Secure Identification Display Area (SIDA) badges, are unaccounted for across the country.

Working in partnership with the NBC station in San Diego, NBC 5 Investigates found more than 270 SIDA badges missing at the San Diego International Airport in the last two years.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/Hundreds-More-TSA-SIDA-Badges-Missing-304485391.html

[*Anya*]

Investigators able to smuggle weapons past airport checks in 95 percent of tests

JUSTIN FISHEL, PIERRE THOMAS, MIKE LEVINE and JACK DATE via GOOD MORNING AMERICA

8:54 AM, Jun 1, 2015
27 mins ago

An investigation of the Transportation Security Administration revealed security failures at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports, where undercover investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives or banned weapons through checkpoints in 95 percent of trials, ABC News learned exclusively.

The series of tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams who pose as passengers, setting out to beat the system.

According to officials briefed on the results of a recent Homeland Security Inspector General’s report, TSA agents failed 67 out of 70 tests, with Red Team members repeatedly able to get potential weapons through checkpoints.

In one test an undercover agent was stopped after setting off an alarm at a magnetometer, but TSA screeners failed to detect a fake explosive device that was taped to his back during a follow-on pat down.

Officials would not divulge the exact time period of the testing other than to say it concluded recently.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was apparently so frustrated by the findings he sought a detailed briefing on them last week at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, according to sources. U.S. officials insisted changes have already been made at airports to address vulnerabilities identified by the latest tests.

“Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General's report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,” the DHS said in a written statement to ABC News.


http://www.newsnet5.com/news/nationa...rcent-of-tests

[*Anya*]

(Washington Post) – The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that he is investigating the leak of classified information from an undercover operation in which investigators were able to slip through airport security with weapons and phony bombs more than 95 percent of the time.

“We have started an investigation to determine where the leak was,” Inspector General John Roth told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

The information received widespread attention in the news media and on Capitol Hill. Roth told the panel that he had briefed top officials about his findings without the information leaking to the public.

“I was as disturbed as anyone that this information got into the media,” he said.

He declined to discuss in Tuesday’s public hearing any aspect of the investigation, in which auditors from his department were able to carry weapons or bomb-like material through air­port-security checkpoints in 67 of 70 attempts this year.

Acting TSA Administrator Melvin Carraway was forced from the job last week after reports of the airport-security issues became public. U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger is awaiting Senate confirmation to become TSA administrator.

Asked whether security at any one airport proved to be more lax than at others, Roth said, “The results were consistent across airports.”

Former TSA head John S. Pistole said last week that some people assigned to test airport security might have had the upper hand because they were intimately familiar with checkpoint operations. He also said that unlike terrorists, intelligence-gathering networks don’t alert the TSA of their planned operations.

“The testers don’t have any special background or training in this area,” Roth said when asked whether his undercover operatives were particularly knowledgeable about overcoming security operations.

The hearing came five days after the release of an inspector general report that said the TSA did not identify 73 aviation industry workers whose links to terrorism should have raised suspicion. Those workers, who had badges that gave them access to secure airport areas, were not identified in the report, and the reasons they should have been flagged were not specified.

The report said, however, that the TSA was “generally effective in identifying credential holders with links to terrorism.” It said the agency had revoked 58 airport badges since 2003 because of security concerns.

“We remain deeply concerned about [the TSA’s] ability to conduct its core mission,” Roth said.

The hearing also focused on the TSA’s Pre-Check program, one of several initiatives that speed 40 to 50 percent of passengers through airport security without the thorough scrutiny that once was common for everyone.

Fliers become eligible for Pre-Check by providing the TSA with personal information and paying a fee. Under Pistole’s direction, other passengers selected at random were allowed to use the faster Pre-Check lines.

“TSA is handing out Pre-Check [privileges] like Halloween candy in an effort to expedite passengers as quickly as possible,” testified Rebecca Roering, a TSA administrator at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and a whistleblower who has revealed details of TSA operations.

She said the TSA was “well aware of the risk” in allowing passengers who have not gone through pre-screening to use the program.

Roering added, however, that the risk-based approach to security implemented by Pistole was appropriate.

“We need to focus on the passengers that really pose a risk,” she said.

Another whistleblower witness, Federal Air Marshal Robert J. MacLean, agreed.

“If Pre-Check is done right, it reduces the time screeners have to spend on non-risk passengers,” he said.

Although the TSA was not invited to participate in Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) spoke up on the agency’s behalf.

“As we all sit and pound the desk and say how bad the TSA is, we have to remember that we keep cutting their money,” McCaskill said.

View the original content and more from this author here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...032_story.html

[Andrea]

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/07/tsa-is-investigating-how-a-man-boarded-a-plane-at-dfw-airport-sunday-without-a-ticket.html/


"The Transportation Security Administration is trying to find out how a man was able to leave his car outside a Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport terminal, pass through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint and board a flight without a ticket Sunday night."

[Andrea]

Poll: 87 percent of frequent flyers unhappy with TSA

http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/256026-poll-87-percent-of-frequent-flyers-unhappy-with-tsa

"Our survey respondents traverse security checkpoints multiple times each month and are in an excellent position to render a verdict on this subject," he continued.

Forty-five percent of the poll's respondents said they were dissatisfied with their airport security experience. Seventy-six percent said they had used TSA's PreCheck trusted traveler program, where passengers volunteer information about themselves and pay an $85 fee in exchange for five years of expedited airport screening.

Only 62 percent of the poll's respondents were satisfactied with the PreCheck program, down from 80.3 percent in 2013.

[Andrea]

Almost 100 Homeland Security employees have been paid to stay home for over a year

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/10/22/at-homeland-security-almost-100-employees-paid-to-stay-home-for-more-than-a-year/?postshare=4351445521817113

"A year after auditors documented tens of thousands of federal workers on paid leave for at least a month and longer stretches that exceed a year, close to 100 Department of Homeland Security employees still are being paid not to work for more than a year.

<snip>

DHS was one large agency cited by the Government Accountability Office in October 2014 in the first report on administrative leave. The audit, first made public by The Washington Post, found that 53,000 civilian employees were kept home for one to three months during the three fiscal years that ended in September 2013. About 4,000 of them were idled for three months to a year and several hundred for one to three years.

The tab for these workers exceeded $775 million in salary alone, auditors found. They acknowledged that their report almost certainly understates the extent and cost of administrative leave because the figures they examined accounted for only about three-fifths of the federal workforce."

Bolding mine.

[Andrea]

72 DHS Employees on Terrorist Watch List

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/72-dhs-employees-on-terrorist-watch-list/

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.) disclosed that a congressional investigation recently found that at least 72 people working at DHS also “were on the terrorist watch list.”

“Back in August, we did an investigation—the inspector general did—of the Department of Homeland Security, and they had 72 individuals that were on the terrorist watch list that were actually working at the Department of Homeland Security,” Lynch told Boston Public Radio.

“The [former DHS] director had to resign because of that,” he said.

[Andrea]

TSA Worker Accused Of Smuggling Marijuana Through Oakland Airport

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/12/18/tsa-worker-accused-of-smuggling-marijuana-through-oakland-airport/

According to a federal Department of Justice news release, Clark operated an X-ray machine at the Oakland airport, where she allowed unnamed co-conspirators to clear the checkpoint without the required screening of their carry-on luggage.

Bolding mine: As someone smarter than me pointed out on FlyerTalk.com, this appears to mean the bags didn't even go through the x-ray so these people could have been carrying items that were potentially harmful to an aircraft.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Andrea

72 DHS Employees on Terrorist Watch List

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/72-dhs-employees-on-terrorist-watch-list/

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.) disclosed that a congressional investigation recently found that at least 72 people working at DHS also “were on the terrorist watch list.”

Now that's the ultimate conflict of interest.

[Andrea]

TSA changes rules for who must go through body scanner

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/23/travel/tsa-airport-screening-change/index.html

The Transportation Security Administration can now mandate some passengers go through a body scanner even if the travelers ask to opt out and get a full-body pat-down instead.

[Andrea]

TSA PAT DOWN & GROPPING of 10 YEAR OLD GIRL

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f91_1451695115

On 12/30/15 TSA ordered a full Pat Down of my 10 year old daughter & detained us for over an hour (see YouTube video of the Pat Down, the link is below)

TSA policy states PAT Downs of children under 12 should be method of last resort.

In my 10 yr old daughter's case, after clearing metal detector, a forgotten Capri Sun juice pack was found in her hand bag by x-ray & agent swabbed bag resulting in a false positive.

Rather than retesting bag or alternate screening methods, my daughter was immediately ordered to submit to a full body Pat Down, and I was told I could not record the process. Luckily I knew the law regarding video recording and agent subsequently allowed me to record.

[Andrea]

TSA official responsible for security lapses earned big bonuses

https://www.revealnews.org/article/tsa-official-responsible-for-security-lapses-earned-big-bonuses/

Over several months before undercover auditors carrying hidden weapons slipped undetected past security screeners at U.S. airports, the official ultimately responsible for the lapses received cash bonuses and awards that reached nearly $100,000, according to a whistleblower complaint obtained by Reveal.

A classified U.S. Department of Homeland Security report, details of which were leaked to ABC News last year, found that the Transportation Security Administration failed to find weapons – including fake explosives – more than 95 percent of the time during 70 covert tests. Arlen Morales, a spokeswoman for the inspector general’s office, confirmed the tests occurred from early April to mid-May at eight domestic airports.

[Andrea]

TSA agent caught 'stealing $1,000 watch from passenger's bag during security screening' at Newark Airport


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3458026/TSA-agent-caught-stealing-1-000-watch-passenger-s-bag-security-screening-Newark-Airport.html

A security agent has been arrested after being accused of stealing a watch worth $1,000 from a passenger's bag.

Daniel Ortiz Junior, 39, of Woodland Park, was on duty as a Transportation Security Administration officer at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey last Tuesday.

Witnesses allege that around 4.30pm, they saw him take the watch out of the man's bag while it went through a security screening and place it in his pocket.

A Port Authority police spokesman said that when authorities went to confront Ortiz, they found the Michele Delo silver watch in the pocket of his pants.

He was then arrested and is due in court in March 2.

[Andrea]

TSA employee at DIA brought loaded gun to work

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/tsa-agent-at-dia-brought-loaded-gun-to-work

Denver7 has confirmed a TSA employee at Denver International Airport was detained after bringing a loaded handgun to work.

Denver police were called in to question the worker at approximately 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, said police spokesman Doug Schepman.

At this point, the employee has not been charged. A decision could came later this week, pending further investigation, Schepman said.

A TSA spokesperson sent Denver7 the following statement:

“While conducting security measures established to mitigate the potential insider threat at airports, TSA discovered a loaded handgun in the possession of an employee. TSA takes the potential for insider threats at airports very seriously. At this moment, there is no reasonable cause to believe that the employee who was found with a handgun in his backpack prior to his shift had any ill intentions. The case is currently with local law enforcement and the employee has been suspended until the investigation is completed.

TSA administers employee security checks at airports prior to accessing sterile areas. TSA will continue to closely partner with local law enforcement on this investigation and, where possible, will use the findings from the investigation to improve current processes.”

TSA said the worker was hired in 2002 and works in a support role, but officials would not release any more information about that support role.

Andrea: TSA workers are not required to go through screening (even metal detector) so it will be interesting to learn how this was discovered.

[Andrea]

Canadian YouTube star Jus Reign forced to remove turban to board flight

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/jus-reign-turban-1.3460092

Jasmeet Singh, better known as comedian and YouTube star Jus Reign, travels a lot for work. As a Sikh, he also wears a turban.

Normally those two details about Singh are not in conflict. But at the San Francisco airport on Monday, he was forced to remove his turban in order to board a flight back to Toronto, an ordeal he called "insensitive."

A similar issue sprang earlier this month when Sikh actor Waris Ahluwalia was also barred from a flight because he refused to take off his turban. Singh told Metro Morning this is a result of growing paranoia about travel, but also a general lack of education about what a turban is among security authorities.

It started when Singh was asked to go through an extra layer of security before boarding his flight on Feb. 22.

"I'm at the airport, and go through security and did one of those full body scans where you have to do a freeze jumping jack pose. So I went through that and did a pat-down and a metal detector was run over my turban, and everything cleared," he said.

"And then at one point, one of the security officials told me I had to go into a room to get extra search done," he said. "I said sure, we can do that. But I soon as I stepped into the private room, they told me to remove my turban."

The turban, or dastaar, is mandatory for all men in the Sikh religion. It is not appropriate to remove it in public.

So Singh respectfully declined to remove his turban, he said, and asked to speak to a manager. Some time later, when the manager arrived, he was given an option of rebooking a flight with another airline or removing the turban.

Wanting to get back to Toronto, he removed the turban.

It passed all other security inspections.

But when he asked for a mirror to put the turban back on, security directed him to a public washroom at the other side of the terminal, he said. That forced him to walk through the airport without the sacred religious headpiece.

"It's an embarrassing and really insensitive ordeal," he said, calling it like asking someone to remove their underwear in public.

"A turban is not a shoe, and it is not a hat," he said. It can take up to 10 minutes to put back on, and requires two hands a mirror to tie it into his hair.

As his alter ego Jus Reign, Singh has removed his turban in public before, when he filmed a YouTube instructional video on how to tie it. But it was still not a pleasant experience.

There are many Sikhs who would not have been able to walk in public without the spiritual cloth turban.

Singh said airport security asking Sikhs to remove their dastaar in public is becoming more frequent.

In fact, he said he has Sikh friends who remove their turbans when they fly in order to make it an easier process in security.

On Feb. 8, Waris Ahluwalia, a familiar face from Wes Anderson films and Deepa Mehta's Beeba Boys, was barred from boarding a flight home to New York after he refused to remove his turban in public.

Both Ahluwalia and Singh put details of their security check on social media, where they've received both support and criticism.

Singh said there is a lack of understanding about what the turban is, how it's taken on and off, and why some Sikhs refuse to be seen in public without it. He said his situation would've been avoided or at least alleviated had security at San Francisco's international airport know more about the Sikh garb.

He also blames a changing public sentiment.

"That same tension and that same paranoia that happened directly after 9/11 seems to be stemming up again," he said.

"I don't want to have to be given the option of not wearing a turban to feel more comfortable."

[Andrea]

The TSA Releases Data on Air Marshal Misconduct, 7 Years After We Asked

https://www.propublica.org/article/tsa-releases-data-on-air-marshal-misconduct-7-years-after-we-asked

Seven and a half years ago, as a new reporter here, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all reports of misconduct by federal air marshals.

It had been several years since the U.S. government rapidly expanded its force of undercover agents trained to intervene in hijackings after 9/11. And a source within the agency told me that a number of air marshals had recently been arrested or gotten in trouble for hiring prostitutes on missions overseas.

I knew the FOIA request would take a while — perhaps a few months — but I figured I’d have the records in time for my first ProPublica project.

Instead, I heard nothing but crickets from the Transportation Security Administration.

Finally, last Wednesday, an email popped into my inbox with the data I had been fighting for since my fourth day at ProPublica.

The saga to get the air marshal data reveals a lot about the problems with FOIA, which is supposed to guarantee the public’s access to government records, as well as what happens when an agency decides to drag out the process.

Even though the Federal Air Marshal Service insists it has taken steps to build an agency steeped in professionalism with no tolerance for misconduct, it continues to face the same issues it was battling when I filed my FOIA request in 2008.

While waiting for the data, I found dozens of air marshals who had been arrested for crimes ranging from aiding a human trafficking ring to attempted murder. One air marshal used his badge to smuggle drugs past airport security while another used his to lure a young boy to his hotel room, where he sexually abused him.

Air marshals had hired prostitutes in Barcelona and gotten into a fight with security guards after patronizing a brothel in Frankfurt.

Another marshal’s in-air behavior concerned flight attendants so much that they reported it to the agency, saying “I can’t believe he is able to carry a gun!” (That officer was later convicted of bank fraud for trying to cash a $10.9 million check that he said was a settlement after he was a scratched by a friend’s cat.)

As time passed, the problems continued.

Last year, several other news outlets published troubling reports about air marshals that sound remarkably similar. A few selections: Air marshals accused of hiring prostitutes in Europe and recording the sex on their phones. Air marshals describe a “party-hearty” atmosphere. Air marshal kicked off plane after throwing a fit when he was offered only one dinner choice instead of three.

Oddly, when the TSA finally responded to my seven-year-old request, it included its own analysis of the data along with an unsolicited statement.

“The vast majority of FAMs [federal air marshals] are dedicated law enforcement professionals who conduct themselves in an exemplary manner,” it said. “TSA and FAMS continually strive to maintain a culture of accountability within its workforce.”

The statement also said the agency saw a “significant reduction” in misconduct cases in 2015 as a result of its initiatives. But notably, the agency only provided data through February 2012, even though in my last email exchange with the office last month I requested the entire database.

This has become standard practice for many agencies. By delaying FOIA requests for years, the TSA gets to claim the data it releases is old news. (The agency made the same claim back in 2008, which — because of the data we received recently — we now know wasn’t true.)

So what did the data tell us about misconduct by air marshals?

For starters, air marshals were arrested 148 times from November 2002 through February 2012. There were another 58 instances of “criminal conduct.”

In addition, air marshals engaged in more than 5,000 less serious incidents of misconduct, ranging from 1,200 cases of lost equipment to missing 950 flights they were supposed to protect.

Is that a lot or a little? It’s hard to say because the number of air marshals is classified and the estimates of the size of the force don’t include turnover.

The TSA says the misconduct represents just a “handful of employees.” But concerned air marshals I spoke with said they should all show sound judgment, given that air marshals are allowed to carry guns on planes and must make split-second life-and-death decisions.

Some other highlights found in our analysis of the data:

250 air marshals have been terminated for misconduct; another 400 resigned or retired while facing investigation.
Air marshals have been suspended more than 900 times, resulting in more than 4,600 days lost to misconduct.
The Washington field office had the most incidents with 530 cases, followed by New York with 471, Chicago and Dallas with 373 each and Los Angeles with 363. There were 85 cases at air marshal headquarters, highlighting that in some cases, misconduct has extended to the top brass.

After our story ran in late 2008, Robert Bray, the director of the air marshal service at the time, vowed to create a “culture of accountability” within the agency and raised the penalty for drunk driving arrests to a 30-day suspension.

We now know the number of misconduct cases remained fairly steady, about 600 a year, in the years before and after our investigation.

It’s unclear if the agency got tougher or weaker. Before the story ran, only 4 percent of air marshals who had been arrested received a suspension of 14 days or longer. After the story ran, that number jumped to 20 percent. But at the same time, a much higher percentage of arrested air marshals got off with minor discipline such as a letter of reprimand, a warning or no action at all.

After the story, I continued to talk to air marshals and pursue the FOIA request. Inspired by the Obama administration’s memo on transparency, and armed with new information that there was a specific misconduct database, I filed a second FOIA request in 2010.

This was perhaps a mistake. Rather than respond to my first request, the TSA merged it with my new request.

In 2012, the agency responded. But the TSA only released two columns — one showing allegations against air marshals, the other listing disciplinary actions taken in response. Notably, there were no dates, which would have allowed us to check if the agency’s “culture of accountability” was working.
Jason Leopold, ‘FOIA terrorist,’ vs. the United States

VICE News reporter Jason Leopold spoke with ProPublica's Eric Umansky about tips for filing FOIA requests, his most surprising finds and more. Listen to the podcast.

I immediately appealed. In addition, I filed another FOIA request for the entire database — “all columns and rows.”

Two more years passed. Meanwhile, air marshal director Bray himself became embroiled in a misconduct investigation. A supervisor was accused of obtaining free and discounted guns from the air marshals’ weapons supplier and providing them to top officials, including Bray, for their personal use. In 2014, Bray retired.

Around that time, I partially won my appeal. But the data was still incomplete.

After nearly six years, I had pretty much given up.

Until late December. That’s when an email arrived from TSA telling me my request from 2012 had been sitting in a backlog and wanting to know if I was still interested.

Indeed I was. (The TSA had asked me this question a few times during my pursuit of these records.)

A month later, I had the information I had been seeking. It only took seven years, seven months and 29 days.

Andrea: Bolding mine

[Andrea]

Former LAX Baggage Handlers Accused Of Trafficking Cocaine

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/04/04/former-lax-baggage-handlers-accused-of-trafficking-cocaine/

Two former Los Angeles International Airport baggage handlers were arrested Monday on cocaine trafficking charges.

Adrian Ponce, 27, and Alberto Preciado Gutierrez, 26, both of South Gate were arrested by investigators looking into the usage of LAX employee credentials to breach airport security. Both men are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and are expected to make their first court appearances in federal court Monday.

According to an affidavit written by a detective with Los Angeles Airport Police, Ponce and Preciado — who was working as a supervisory baggage handler for Swissport International at the time — facilitated third-party couriers who used commercial airlines to smuggle kilogram “samples” of cocaine from Los Angeles to drug customers on the East Coast.

During the investigation into former baggage handlers, detectives seized a kilogram of cocaine in Preciado’s possession on Dec. 16, 2015 just as he was delivering it to a courier who had a ticket for a JetBlue flight to New York, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The next day, Ponce admitted in a written statement that “on multiple occasions,” he and Preciado used Preciado’s supervisory status as an LAX employee to smuggle drugs to out-of-state drug customers by using third-party couriers, according to the affidavit.

In another statement, Ponce admitted to working with a large-scale drug supplier and supplying couriers who had already passed through normal airport security. According to the affidavit, Ponce said if East Coast customers liked the cocaine “sample,” then large shipments – more than 100 kilograms – would be delivered by driving the drugs across the country. Federal prosecutors say Ponce also admitted to driving such drug-laden trucks in exchange for payment.

“These defendants are charged with abusing their privileged access on behalf of drug dealers,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “This case is yet another example of employees associated with airports assisting drug traffickers.”