JFK-coke-in-patties-bust
The coke was found duct-taped in 12 packages in a box of Tasteeā€™s Jamaican beef patties. (US Customs image)

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, QUEENS, NY, Fri. Jan. 20, 2017: A Jamaican woman is now facing federal narcotics smuggling charge after arriving in New York City from her native country with a box of Jamaican beef patties filled with cocaine.

U.S. Customs officersā€™ at the J.F.K. Airport busted Chantal Alecia Bedwardā€™s with a box of Tasteeā€™s Jamaican beef patties that included cocaine, authorities said Thursday. The coke was found duct-taped in 12 packages containing a white powder that tested positive for cocaine. The value of the approximately four pounds of the drug was put at US $70,000.

Bedward was arrested on a charge of importation of a controlled substance and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations. She will be prosecuted in federal court in Brooklyn.

ā€œThis seizure demonstrates the vigilance and dedication demonstrated daily by CBP officers at JFK, in keeping these prohibited and dangerous narcotics off the streets of our communities,ā€ said Robert E. Perez, Director, Field Operations in New York for CBP.