JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Retired American Airlines captain-turned-Jacksonville University assistant professor Wayne Zeiskal said the case surrounding 39-year-old Sergio Arturo Ibarra is only the tip of the iceberg.
"The checks and balances that go into inspecting bags before they go on an airplane don't just involve drugs, they involve other things, and if that somehow is being bypassed, now we have serious issues," said Zeiskal.
According to a six-page factual basis report, government investigators said Ibarra moved illicit drugs and money "with assistance from airport insiders who ensured that checked baggage containing marijuana bypassed security at airports."
The report also mentions how large commercial crates containing hundreds of pounds of marijuana each also made it onto commercial airplanes.
According to the document, one of the defendant's co-conspirators was picked up from Jacksonville International Airport a couple of times and another alleged member of the ring had a boarding pass to travel from Jacksonville to Charlotte.
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It's a story Zeiskal has seen before, when he worked as a captain for American Airlines.
"Airbuses were being locked up with drugs, and cocaine specifically, put in food carts and they were being packed outside the country and the food carts were being transported on the airplane," said Zeiskal.
Dozens of employees were arrested in that operation back in 2009.
But Zeiskal said this isn't just about drugs.
"The normal channels and avenues for checks and balances, for catching this sort of thing, or any type of dangerous contraband, is being short-circuited," said Zeiskal.
Co-conspirators said the drugs and money went back and forth from Los Angeles to Charlotte and Jacksonville. According to Action News law and safety expert Dale Carson, the operation shows signs of a much deeper black-market network.
"It seems to be part of a larger organization. How many? It's difficult to tell by what's been explained by the government so far, but these operations can involve 10 or 15 people and they can be international in scope," said Carson. "If they're able to smuggle narcotics in checked baggage, what else could they also smuggle?"
The report states that the money from drug sales was also shipped using FedEx and UPS as well as laundered through several banks.
No JIA employees or TSA employees have been implicated in this case.
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