Man Caught With 30 Pounds Of Cocaine Hidden In Wheelchair At BWI Airport
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A New Jersey man was caught with 30 pounds of cocaine hidden inside his electric wheelchair last week at BWI Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday.
Gabriel Ruiz, 34, of Union City, NJ is charged with felony narcotics importation and possession. He was arrested by Maryland Transportation Authority officers at the Baltimore airport on Monday, June 21 after arriving from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Officials said 13 plastic-wrapped cocaine bricks were found in the man's Jazzy 614 electric wheelchair after the wheelchair was x-rayed. The bricks were positively identified as cocaine after officers used field test kits.
The CBP said the bricks had a combined weight of 30 pounds and three ounces and had an estimated street value of nearly $1 million.
The State's Attorney in Anne Arundel County, Anne Colt Leitess, is prosecuting Ruiz.