Woman Gets Arrested Attempting To Smuggle Over RM2Mil Worth of Cocaine In A Wheelchair

By Syakir Roslan  •  17 Nov 2022 in News

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It’s 2022 and the multi-billion dollar world drug trade is still booming, seeing no signs of stopping nor slowing down despite the efforts of law enforcement around the world.

In another chapter of the never-ending war on drugs, a woman was apprehended with $450,000 (RM2,048,400) worth of cocaine at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York, which she hid inside the wheels of her wheelchair.

According to the Associated Press, the suspect is a Dominican national by the name of Emelinda Paulino De Rivas who flew in from Punta Cana, Domincan Republic to the JFK airport on the 10th of November.

An official report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) states:

“Ms. De Rivas was traveling in a wheelchair when CBP officers decided to interview her. CBP officers noticed that the wheels on the wheelchair were not turning, so they x-rayed the wheelchair and noticed an anomaly in all four wheels.”

After CBP officers inspected the wheelchair and opened up its wheels, they realised the anomaly in question was about 28 pounds (12.7kg) of a white powdery substance which eventually tested positive as cocaine.

On their website, the CBP stated that “Ms. De Rivas now faces federal narcotics smuggling charges and will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Eastern District Court of New York.”