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Baggage handler for Southwest Airlines smuggled cocaine on hundreds of flights
The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a Southwest Airlines employee has been smuggling cocaine onto flights between Houston and Baltimore.The employee, Carthon Lee Merrick, who lives in the greater Houston area, is a baggage handler for the airline.
According to a federal indictment, he's being charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute.
The indictment says that since 2001 Merrick has used his Southwest airlines flying privileges to make 388 smuggling trips between the two cities. He was finally nabbed earlier this year coming off a flight in Houston, where authorities found him in possession of $79,122 in cash.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and could get life in prison.
Southwest Airlines isn't commenting.
What other strange things have been found on planes?
Filed under: Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
elaine Oct 6th 2008 7:27AM
are you kidding me? why aren't these people working under surveilance? they should be monitered across the board, to protect against theft of our property, and smuggling contraband. those drugs could have just as easily been weapons or a bomb! and they got away with this for over how many flights? and the gov. is busy trying to pass bills to listen to private citizen's converstaions ..way to go!!!
kj Oct 6th 2008 1:41PM
If the government passes a law to hear peoples phone conversations they will hear alot about themselves! They are slowly turning this in to a communist country. Invasion of privacy! thats what it is.
just like you can put your address in and see your own home or someone your related to from satellite on the computor.
There is too much going on now that never used to be and the real crooks are the ones in office.
Just like what is going on with the economy! most people today grew up different than we did in the 1960's! we were not used to all the luxury people have today and we appreciated more what we did have. Now people dont appreciate what they have had.
I liked the simple life!
commonsense guy20 Oct 6th 2008 10:43AM
Elaine....I think you need to read the article again. He was not
smuggling drugs while working. Instead "baggage handler" was his job
title. He was using his discount flights to fly with everyone else
presumably on his day off to smuggle drugs. However, it is agreed
that tight security should be kept on these baggage handlers while
they are in deed handling luggage.
elaine Oct 6th 2008 8:53PM
yes, commonsense guy your right he was off duty, but someone had to be on duty to let him get past security, without proper screening. which is why i said they should be under surveilance across the board. hope i cleared that up for you. =)
hugs4ever2002 Oct 6th 2008 7:43AM
When are the feds going to learn they have lost the war on drugs.
Yes they can arrest this guy but this is only a dent in the drug trade.
Washington has lost the Nam, IRAQ and the drug war.
Give up Washington.
Alexander Oct 6th 2008 8:17AM
Give Up? I guess your ok with letting the problem of kids on drugs. You can teach them its ok to do drugs because its easier to give up.Got Kids? Lets get them using early so they know how to find the good drugs so they dont take money from your purse and waste it on weak drugs. Think of it an entire generation of unemployable people who cant get a job because they cant pass a piss test.
Sounds like tax increases to me. We have to take care of the drug induced losers. I think you should serve the baggage handlers time in prison so he can be free to poison our kids. I mean we gave up right?I wonder if he gets his stash from a guy who keeps those jet engines running or perhapse the pilot?
I hope you dont have kids. Of course if you do give up on trying to raise a functional person in society you could just.......Give up.
Corrinne Oct 6th 2008 11:19AM
I AGREE. I'm am NOT saying do nothing, I'm saying they need to change their approach on the "war on drugs" I have not seen it make a dent. They need to work more on getting addicts help, not sending them to prison. Some deserve to be in prison, many don't. It's a disease, and they need treatment. Sending them to jail makes it worse in most cases, you can get many drugs in jail. They get out, then they re-offend because they don't get help for their substance abuse.
The current war on drugs is a joke. Most of the cops are as corrupt as the drug dealers. I know from experience.
Loosefoot333 Oct 6th 2008 2:06PM
The feds make money off of this type of business... he just may be a distraction...of course every good thing comes to an end, but you have to think of everything... he could have just been chosen before he knew it .... his greed kept him going!
duane Oct 6th 2008 7:54AM
I am not surprised at all..i've been ripped off by these people and the airline did nothing.I think they look at it as JOB PERK
scott Oct 6th 2008 8:18AM
So thats the only race this man could be huh....That is the continuation of the problem in America! It is that type of mentality that keeps everybody oppressed and keeps us (Americans) from growing as a whole !
cat Oct 6th 2008 9:11AM
How about "sneaked"?? Good grief...please, hire people who can write...
"C" Oct 6th 2008 12:21PM
hey cat???? that whole story and all you got out of it is a word, are you running for congress meow!!!!!!!!
Cta Oct 9th 2008 10:23PM
As a matter of fact...
Marian Oct 6th 2008 9:15AM
Figures don't lie but liars figure. Some years back after the riots in L.A. (and spare me what the police did please) a respected TV personality had a special show where the audience was only invited black men. As he said then, blacks made up about 18% of the population but accounted for 3/4 of all crime. As I say again, figures don't lie but liars figure. As long as the secter of society still feels that we owe them, they will get no where.
keli Oct 6th 2008 9:34AM
sneak
2 dictionary results for: sneaked
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
sneak /snik/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sneek] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, sneaked or snuck, sneak·ing, noun
tese42s Oct 6th 2008 9:52AM
He probably wouldn't of had the drugs if the government would of closed the borders.
Arica Oct 6th 2008 3:15PM
first of all yeah the drug war is a losing battle and you want to talk about what its going to do to are children. first of all the only thing that will help your children is the parents talking to them letting them know how they feel about it and telling them about some of there experiences with there drug history. face it there is like no one in the nation who hasnt atleast tried some sorta drug. i feel they should legalize certain types of drugs and i dont even do them cause of what my parents have told me yes i tried but still my parents taught me right from wrong.
la Oct 6th 2008 10:24AM
My neighbor works at TAMPA AIRPORT for HOMELAND SECURITY and even she states that they should require ALL workers to go through the same screening process on Airport Grounds just like the passengers do. However, because they were so called "cleared" when hired, many of the workers have clearance and access to areas without being screened and often when they do fly out of their home base, no one checks them because they think they do no harm. That is about as ludicrous as saying because a Doctor has the clearance to write prescriptions for controlled substances that none of them abuse it. HA, the amount of Doctors found abusing drugs ia a lot higher than you may think.
Pig Oct 6th 2008 11:36AM
For me that kind stuff is nothing new w /Southwest Airlines,everything is posible with this airline,like kill a little kid a Chicago Airport,because they don,t care.they think $$$$$$$$$$$$,drugs is ok,Safety violations a the runways is ok,security a the baggage inside the aircrafts nothing important.Who go Stop this company.Travelers. Pig
Alouisis Oct 6th 2008 10:26AM
Alexander said...
Give Up? I guess your ok with letting the problem of kids on drugs. You can teach them its ok to do drugs because its easier
Alexander - While I agree with your sentiment, you have to admit drugs are freely available everywhere. The government is unable to manage this as a legal problem - half of all prisoners are drug prisoners. Rather than waste more money on prisons and law enforcement, lets spend that money on education and schools. It will work much better. Jails will empty, crime and gang activity will go down and we can treat drug use as a public health problem. Could you imagine making cancer a crime?