The search for the JetBlue flight attendant who ran from a security checkpoint at LAX is over. According to a DEA news release, a 31 year old flight attendant named Marsha surrendered to DEA agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Wednesday and has been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Here is what authorities say happened. On Friday evening, she went through the crew member checkpoint in Terminal 4 and showed her badge and ID to a TSA officer. She was randomly picked for extra screening and was taken to a secondary screening area. According to the DEA, she then dropped her luggage, took off her shoes and ran from TSA officers. Officers confirmed the bag held no explosives, and an LAX police officer then found 11 wrapped packages inside. Authorities later determined the packages were cocaine, weighing about 68 pounds in total.
NBC News reported that she later boarded a flight back to the East Coast before turning herself in. The charge is a federal one. The DEA says the case is being handled by the LAX Criminal Enterprise Task Force, which includes several federal and local agencies. A charge is an accusation, and Marsha has not been convicted of anything. Her attorney had not publicly commented at the time of the DEA release.
The case also set off a conversation about airport security for employees. Marshall McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, told reporters that screening all airport employees is feasible because other major airports already do it. He said, “We cannot wait for an employee to bring aboard or plant something nefarious on a plane before we take action.”
Sources: DEA news release, NBC News.
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