The Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas USVI. Photo Credit: V.I. CONSORTIUM
ST. THOMAS — Days after one woman was arrested for trafficking marijuana into the territory through the Cyril E. King Airport, a second woman is facing similar allegations.
Jacklyn Quiroz was arrested on Wednesday shortly after arriving at the airport on a flight from Newark, New Jersey. The checked luggage from her flight had been x-rayed by Customs and Border Patrol personnel, and two suitcases with her name on their luggage tags displayed what officers described as “anomalies.”
Suspecting that the bags contained marijuana, the officers put them on the carousel to see who retrieved them. After Ms. Quiroz collected both suitcases, she was stopped by the waiting CBP officers. After confirming her identity via a California driver's license, Ms. Quiroz was taken to a secondary screening area.
There, she reportedly told the officers that she had not packed the suitcases, but was merely carrying them down for a friend. That friend, she told them, was flying in later that day, and she was supposed to meet them to return the suitcases. The friend had given her $500 as reimbursement for her 1-way ticket to the territory, and she believed that he would buy her a return ticket once they had exchanged the luggage. She was also reportedly supposed to earn $1500 for her efforts. When asked if she had knowledge of the contents of the bags, Ms. Quiroz reportedly told the CBP officers “I didn't ask and I didn't want to know.”
A search of her purse netted the officers a small blue padlock with a key attached. The key opened a similar blue padlock on one of the suitcases. Both bags were opened, and found to contain a towel that covered several packages, vacuum sealed in black plastic. About 40 bags were discovered altogether, containing over 20 kilograms of a substance which gave positive results when field tested for marijuana.
Ms. Quiroz was duly arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. She appeared before District Court Magistrate Alan Teague, who ordered that she be released ahead of trial on a $5000 unsecured appearance bond. She will be allowed to return to California, and must leave the territory on Friday.
