Among the many things that airport officials have to keep a close eye on are attempts at drug smuggling. A recent incident at Detroit airport led to the arrest of one man who tried to smuggle more than 30 pounds of cocaine by booking a last-minute Delta Air Lines flight.
Earlier this month, officials at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) arrested a passenger who was trying to transport around 33 pounds of cocaine through the airport via a connecting flight.
According to ClickOnDetroit, Woodrow Campbell booked a last-minute Delta Air Lines flight on June 6 from Los Angeles to Saginaw in Michigan, with a layover at DTW. He booked his ticket less than 24 hours before the first flight was scheduled to take off on June 7.
According to officials who are familiar with drug smuggling activities at airports, drug traffickers sometimes resort to last-minute bookings to throw law enforcement agents off track. According to the report, Campbell had a previous record of drug smuggling when he abandoned a checked bag at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in May 2023, from which more than 10 pounds of cocaine was recovered.
Cocaine was found in three bags
Campbell had stuffed the cocaine in three bags, two of which arrived on the incoming flight. ClickOnDetroit reports that officials with the Wayne County Airport Authority’s Airport Special Investigations Unit approached gate A18 on June 7 and pulled aside two bags with Campbell’s tag when they were offloaded.
