NEW YORK—It’s the holidays and gifts are flooding into John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. The airport receives over 50 percent of the nation’s international mail.
Being the greatest receiver, the airport also sees a great deal of illicit drugs and materials. Its gatekeepers, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents briefed the media on Dec. 3 on the agency’s significant interceptions this year and for last year.
“This holiday season, we want to remind the public that the bitterness of poor quality lasts much longer than the happiness of a good price,” said JFK Port Director Frank Russo at the CBP New York Field Office. “And that’s especially true when talking about counterfeit goods.”
Counterfeit goods were neatly displayed on a table, including a Rolex watch, Fender guitars, and many other items. Chinese fentanyl makers and others have exploited the JFK Port of Entry to ship illicit drugs and materials into the United States.
Last month, the airport experienced something new.
“It was the first counterfeit iPhone 11 found in North America,” said Russo.
Cocaine Cargo
A total of 6,000 packages were seized this year at JFK. At CBP’s first-year end review in New York, Russo was joined by the director of the busiest container port on the east coast.
This year they had their largest cocaine seizure in 21 years. New York/Newark Port Director Marty Raybon said they seized nearly 3,200 pounds with a street value of $77 million.
But at JFK, the ecstasy is mounting.
“We saw at JFK 900 pounds of ecstasy coming from Europe, and that’s probably double the amount that we’ve seen in the past,” said Russo.
Congressman Max Rose called on the agency to improve JFK’s mail inspection system in August, saying it was necessary to stop the influx of fentanyl.
Russo said, “because of [Rose’s] trip to JFK we’re getting some of those upgrades as well so we’re happy about that.”
CBP relies on electronic data in advance to determine which packages to investigate at the JFK Airport, but Russo said this system needs to be improved.
