SAN JUAN - Drug traffickers have flooded Puerto Rico with drug money and made it one of the most violent places under the American flag, US prosecutors said.
The arrest this month of San Juan airport worker Wilfredo Rodriguez on smuggling charges highlighted the challenges law enforcement authorities face in the US Caribbean territory.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez, who wrapped cargo in plastic as a part-timer worker for American Airlines, built a fortune over the last decade by smuggling drugs aboard commercial flights. He bought a mansion in the hills outside San Juan and four luxury cars.
While most of the drugs reaching the United States arrive through the southwest border, an estimated 30 percent come through the Caribbean - and of all the islands, authorities say, Puerto Rico is easily the biggest transshipment point. As American soil, it is attractive because drugs leaving here do not have to clear customs to reach the US market.
At least 1,430 metric tons of cocaine reached the island last year, according to the Key West, Fla.-based Joint Interagency Task Force South, which coordinates the tracking of drug shipments in the region. The drugs are often spirited ashore Puerto Rico’s 300-mile coastline in boats from neighboring islands.
Rodriguez is in federal custody on charges that he recruited other American Airlines employees to an operation that smuggled more than 19,840 pounds of cocaine to cities on the East Coast. His lawyer says he is innocent of all charges.
