BOSTON - A Pennsylvania woman appeared in federal court in Boston today for a detention hearing after having been charged with smuggling drugs, concealed in her underwear, into the United States on a commercial flight from the Dominican Republic.
Natalia Alexander Duran, 21, of Pennsylvania, was arrested on May 30, 2017, at Boston’s Logan International Airport, and charged with smuggling drugs into the United States. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley took the matter of detention under advisement. Duran remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals.
According to court documents, Duran arrived at Logan Airport on a JetBlue flight from the Dominican Republic on May 30, 2017. Upon arrival, Duran, a U.S. citizen, was referred for a secondary baggage examination. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers searched her bags and did not find any contraband. Duran then stated that she needed to use the restroom. Two female CBP officers escorted Duran to a private bathroom inside a pat down room and told her that prior to using the restroom, she needed to be searched.
It is alleged that during the pat down, one of the CBP officers felt an abnormality in Duran’s groin area. When questioned, Duran said she was wearing three maxi pads. As the pat down continued, Duran explained that she was going to urinate herself and asked the CBP officers to leave so that she could use the restroom. When the CBP officers informed Duran that they would not leave the room, Duran told them she no longer needed to use the restroom; that she was wearing a body suit and could not urinate with it on and did not want to remove it. Duran then confessed to concealing drugs inside her body suit, saying that someone gave her drugs to carry. Duran subsequently reached into her underwear and emptied 41 pellets of cocaine, approximately 445 grams, onto the floor.
CBP officers had reason to believe Duran had ingested additional pellets, so she was transported to a medical facility where an additional 68 pellets were discovered inside her body, which also tested positive for cocaine and heroin.
In total, the 109 concealed pellets yielded approximately 2.6 pounds of illicit narcotics, 1075 grams of cocaine and 120 grams of heroin.
The charging statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and William A. Ferrara, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
