A girl was arrested at Chicago O’Hare Worldwide Airport after she was allegedly caught with a big quantity of cocaine hidden in her wheelchair, in accordance with a prison criticism obtained by PEOPLE.
Elaine Perez-Pena was touring from Sao Paulo, Brazil and had a layover in Chicago when she was discovered to have the unlawful substance on Jan. 25, in accordance with the paperwork filed on Jan. 26 by a particular agent with Homeland Safety Investigations.
Perez-Pena, whose finish vacation spot was Newark, N.J., is being charged with “possession of a managed substance with the intent to distribute” after officers allegedly found 14.08 kilograms of cocaine within the cushions of her motorized wheelchair, in accordance with the submitting.
Within the affidavit that helps the criticism, the particular agent says that primarily based on their years of expertise with comparable incidents, they know that one kilogram of cocaine is price $17,000 to $20,000. Thus, Perez-Pena allegedly possessed at the very least $238,000 price of cocaine when she was caught.
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Throughout her layover, Perez-Pena — who was seated within the motorized wheelchair after exiting the aircraft — was subjected to a secondary inspection as a consequence of her earlier convictions involving the substance.
She allegedly instructed officers that she was drained and her leg damage whereas they have been inspecting her different belongings. She then mentioned that she wanted to make use of the restroom and was having problem strolling, so the officers escorted her to the restroom, the paperwork allege.
Whereas nothing suspicious was present in her curler bag, the officers noticed that the cushions on her wheelchair appeared “newer,” so that they despatched it via the X-ray machine and “seen anomalies in density and colours in line with regular cushioning,” in accordance with the submitting.
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A narcotics canine then gave a “optimistic response” to the odor of the wheelchair, which prompted an officer to conduct an “intrusive examination” by drilling into the cushion. A “white powdery substance” was then discovered on the tip of the drill, per the paperwork.
After taking aside the cushions on the wheelchair, a customs officer allegedly discovered “roughly 14 packages containing a white powdery substance that examined optimistic for cocaine.” Perez-Pena was ultimately taken to a holding cell, the place she was allegedly seen pacing backwards and forwards with out the necessity for a wheelchair.
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Per the submitting, Perez-Pena had a historical past of earlier convictions. In 2022, she pled responsible to “importing cocaine and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or extra of cocaine.” She acquired a sentence of time served and two years on supervised launch, in accordance with the paperwork.
On a unique event in 2022, she was discovered with 2.89 kilograms of a substance that examined optimistic for cocaine hidden in her suitcase when she landed in New York Metropolis from the Dominican Republic.
