Jamaican Airliner Seized by Customs Agents
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NEW YORK — Customs agents, citing a federal law that allows the confiscation of vehicles used to transport narcotics, seized an Air Jamaica airliner Wednesday, minutes before it was to fly to Kingston with 245 passengers.
Air Jamaica Flight 17 was boarded on a runway at John F. Kennedy oAirport a day after the U.S. Customs Service confiscated 45 pounds of marijuana found in unticketed baggage from the plane.
Since October, the Customs Service has seized almost 10,000 pounds of marijuana carried on Air Jamaica flights, said Michael Kaufman, spokesman for the agency.
The airline Wednesday night delivered a certified check for $18,000 to Customs agents at Kennedy Airport, to cover a penalty assessed by the agency, and reclaimed the plane, Kaufman said.
No arrests were made, he said, but “an investigation is pending.”
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