CONTINENTAL 9, mostly airline workers, arrested on drug charges

Ex-Continental employees acted as informants to get reduced sentences.
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
MIAMI -- Federal authorities in Miami and Newark, N.J., arrested nine people, most of them Continental Airlines employees, and accused them Wednesday of smuggling suitcases stuffed with cocaine and cash on board flights between the two cities.
The temptation for airline employees to make easy money through smuggling has plagued Miami International Airport and others for decades. The arrests demonstrate that the problem persists, despite tightened security after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
A federal grand jury indictment in Miami accused 10 people and sought forfeiture of $12.5 million in drug proceeds. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Newark named six Continental employees.
In the Miami case, four former and current Continental employees were arrested, while five were arrested in Newark, authorities said. The FBI was the lead agency in the Miami part of the investigation, dubbed Operation Gato Sucio, Spanish for "dirty cat."
The four indicted in Miami were identified as former Continental employee Jose E. Abreu, and current employees Rosa I. Abreu, Marisela Diaz and Pedro J. Perez. They are scheduled to appear today before a federal magistrate.
The investigation involved former Continental workers who acted as informants, according to court records. The records did not identify the informants by name.
Informants
But documents filed in Miami indicate that four people, including three former Continental employees, agreed to cooperate with authorities after being charged last year in the cocaine smuggling conspiracy.
Alberto Gonzalez, Luis Ortiz and Lucia Robinson could have spent the rest of their lives in federal prison, but received sentences ranging from 46 to 292 months under plea bargains. Nonemployee Alex Lujan is awaiting sentencing.
Lujan was forced to give up his house, his Mercedes convertible, about $139,000 in cash, several Rolex and Cartier watches, a boat and all-terrain vehicles, according to documents filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerold McMillen.
A Continental spokesman said the newly charged employees have been suspended, pending a review of their employment status.
"Continental Airlines expects all of its employees to be responsible citizens and to abide by local, state and federal laws. The airline insists on a drug-free workplace, and is cooperating with authorities," said spokesman Rashaan Johnson.
According to court documents, the arrests center around two attempts to smuggle cocaine north to Newark last summer. One shipment of 70 kilos was seized before it could be brought on board the plane. Another was seized after agents trailed Ortiz and Lujan to a warehouse where the cocaine had been stored.