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COSTA RICA |
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Canadian
Charged With Trying To import
Cocaine From Costa Rica
By Tim McGlone,
The Virginian-Pilot
A Canadian man was charged Friday with
trying to import cocaine from Costa Rica,
federal authorities said.
Jeffery A. Benoit, 39, was charged with
conspiracy to import 5 kilos or more of
cocaine. He made his initial appearance in
U.S. District Court on Friday afternoon. A
magistrate judge ordered him jailed pending
a bond hearing Wednesday.
Benoit was arrested Thursday after he
purchased what he thought was 5 kilos, or 11
pounds, of cocaine that had been flown in
from Costa Rica, according to a court
affidavit filed by the Drug Enforcement
Administration. The cocaine was fake.
Benoit was set up by an undercover DEA agent
posing as an airline employee based at the
Norfolk airport. The affidavit said the
undercover agent acted as the middleman
between Benoit and a Costa Rican supplier.
The two met after the undercover agent
infiltrated a drug smuggling ring. The agent
hooked up with an unidentified
co-conspirator in Costa Rica who offered to
supply Benoit with large amounts of cocaine,
the affidavit says.
The two met Aug. 20 and began developing a
plan, the affidavit continues. Agents
quickly put Benoit under constant
surveillance. They followed him in his Lexus
sport utility vehicle. He stayed at the
Founders Inn and met with the undercover
agent at various restaurants in the region
over the ensuing weeks.
The agent told Benoit that he could
facilitate the transportation of the cocaine
from Costa Rica through his job with the
airline.
On Sept. 23, the co-conspirator delivered
the cocaine to a Costa Rica airport, where
he was arrested before the drugs got on the
plane.
On Thursday, the agent told Benoit that he
had received the cocaine and was prepared to
deliver it. They met at an undisclosed
location where Benoit paid the agent
$25,000, the affidavit says.
As Benoit drove away with what he thought
was more than $100,000 worth of cocaine,
state troopers stopped him and arrested him.
He was turned over to the DEA. |
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