Melinda Paulino De Rivas, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, arrived on November 10 at New York’s Kennedy International Airport and was arrested for carrying with her almost $500k worth of cocaine in the tires of her wheelchair.
She was pulled over by customs officials upon noticing that the wheels of her wheelchair were not rotating correctly. An x-ray showed tubes of cocaine weighing 28 pounds crammed inside the chair’s wheels. The estimated street value of the cocaine discovered is £377,900 (USD 450,000).
Ms. De Rivas was charged with the importation of a controlled substance and was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The quantity of cocaine found translates to nearly 75,000 doses (100-200 mg.), thus, the amount seized by the Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) group totals almost 6,000 lethal doses.
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In a statement told to ABC News, Francis J. Russo, Director of CBP’s New York field operations said “CBP stands steadfast and determined in working with our partners to identify the transnational criminal networks responsible for importing these deadly drugs into our neighborhoods.”
Has the war on drugs failed?
According to many politicians and experts, the thriving cocaine production suggests that the war on drugs has failed.
Colombia, the world’s leading cocaine producer, broke its own record for coca leaf cultivation in 2021, a UN body said.
Based on a recent report released by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, the world-wide battle against drugs is a failure and must be traded with decriminalization strategies grounded in science, health, security and human rights. “Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdose fatalities and other harmful consequences of drug use,” the report further stated.
“Arresting and incarcerating tens of millions of these people in recent decades has filled prisons and destroyed lives and families without reducing the availability of illicit drugs or the power of criminal organizations,” the report concludes.
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Colombia breaks cocaine production record