Pubdate: Tue, 13 Feb 2001
Source: Alameda Times-Star (CA)
Copyright: 2001 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  P.O. Box 28884 ,Oakland, CA 94612
Fax: (510) 208-6477
Website: http://www.timesstar.com/
Author: Erin Sherbert, Staff Writer

RECORD MARIJUANA SEIZURE AT SFO

315 Pounds Found; 5 Women Arrested

BURLINGAME -- Five women were arrested Saturday morning on suspicion of the 
possession and transportation for sale of marijuana in what police 
officials call the biggest one-day marijuana drug bust ever at the San 
Francisco International Airport.

San Francisco's International Airport Narcotics Task Force confiscated 11 
pieces of luggage with about 315 pounds of marijuana sealed in plastic. 
Officers said the street value of the seized marijuana is approximately 
$1.2 million.

Virgin Pilar Flores, Victoria Venus Arocho, Amariysa Arocho, Patricia 
Motanez and Dasny L. Troche, all from Bronx, New York, were booked at the 
San Mateo County jail on $10,000 bail each.

"We believe they are part of a ring working out of the New York City area. 
They were carriers being paid to carry marijuana, which came out of 
Mexico," said Henry Friedlander, public information officer for the San 
Francisco Police Department Airport Bureau. "We know who the ringleader is, 
but the key is to get cooperation so we can get him."

At approximately 8:30 a.m., airport officials determined one of Flores' 
three bags contained a suspicious item after they were randomly sent 
through the x-ray machine. Police arrived at the scene and the bag was 
searched. Officers found a large quantity of marijuana sealed with plastic. 
After marijuana was detected, the department's trained narcotics dog, 
Elway, responded to narcotics in Flores' other two bags.

Flores was then taken into custody.

At the same time, three nearby bags similar to Flores' were identified and 
searched by Elway, a four-and-a-half-year-old golden retriever. The dog 
responded to narcotic hits in the additional bags.

Further investigation brought the narcotics task force to a local hotel 
near the airport, where officers found more bags of marijuana. Three more 
arrests were made.

Police said two of the women, Flores and Amariysa Arocho, were scheduled to 
depart on the same flight to New York that day and the other three were 
going to leave at a later date.

Police would not release the name of the airline or the hotel.

Officials of the task force said that they believe there is an organization 
responsible for bringing the marijuana into the U.S., and that a different 
organization coordinated transportation of the drug by the women. They are 
uncertain as to the exact route the marijuana took to get to San Francisco, 
but suspect it could have been flown here through San Diego or Los Angeles.

"We got lucky here and through cooperative investigations and leads we were 
able to confiscate a large amount of marijuana," Friedlander said adding 
that this probably isn't the first time these women have tried to transport 
marijuana at the airport.
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