A Long Island man took his aviation career to new lows by using his insider access at John F. Kennedy International Airport to stash bricks of cocaine under the cockpit of an international jetliner. Paul Belloisi, 56, of Smithtown, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison after a jury convicted him of conspiring to import and possess more than 25 pounds of cocaine hidden in the electronics compartment of an American Airlines flight.
On February 4, 2020, authorities discovered 10 cocaine bricks—worth over $250,000—stashed in the aircraft arriving from Montego Bay, Jamaica. When Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents replaced the coke with fake bricks coated with a glowing substance, they waited for their suspect to make a move.
Belloisi, an American Airlines mechanic, didn’t disappoint. Hours before the plane’s next flight, he was spotted crawling into the electronics compartment, gloves glowing under black light as he attempted to retrieve the stash. Busted with an empty tool bag and jacket lining cut out to fit the drugs, Belloisi’s cocaine smuggling scheme quickly unraveled.
In addition to risking public safety, Belloisi’s brazen scheme posed a serious threat to aviation security, officials said.
“The defendant abused his insider position at JFK Airport to help smuggle more than 25 pounds of cocaine into the United States in a highly sensitive electronics compartment of an international aircraft,” stated United States Attorney Brandon Peace. “This conduct not only furthers the trafficking of drugs that harms our communities, but also poses a serious threat to the security of a vital border crossing in our district and our transportation infrastructure.”
Now, Belloisi’s days of flying high are grounded for good.
Photo by Juan Hernández.
