Flight attendants use security privileges to smuggle millions in drug money out of US: federal prosecutors – By Michael Ruiz (FOX Business) / May 8, 2024
4 employees from unspecified international airlines face federal prison time
Federal agents hauled a flight attendant out of New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as they broke up an international money laundering ring that prosecutors allege smuggled $8 million in drug-related proceeds out of the U.S. by taking advantage of flight crews’ easy airport access.
Four airline employees, three from New York and another from New Jersey, are accused of taking a cut of each shipment as they snuck it through special employee-access lanes at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and onto flights bound for the Dominican Republic.
The suspects all had special clearance with the TSA under the Known Crewmember Program, or KCM. Airline employees with KCM status have a separate, expedited security lane and face less scrutiny, according to federal prosecutors.
“In effect, given these loosened security procedures, KCM privileges allow flight attendants to bypass airport security with large quantities of cash without that cash being seized,” the federal criminal complaint reads.
