Two foreign nationals indicted after nearly 168 pounds of hashish seized at MIA
Two foreign nationals were federally indicted Wednesday after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly 168 pounds of hashish during luggage inspections at Miami International Airport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Officers were conducting outbound inspections on Feb. 11 and searched suitcases checked under Joseph Mark Delacruz, 24, of the United Kingdom, and Sezer Ali Ilhan, 20, of Germany, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida said in a Friday statement.
Delacruz and Ilhan were attempting to board separate flights from Miami to São Paulo, Brazil.
Officers found around 38.32 kilograms, about 84.48 pounds, of vacuum-sealed packages containing a brown brick-shaped substance inside two suitcases checked under Delacruz’s name, according to a criminal complaint. A sample of the substance inside his bags was tested and returned positive for hashish.
Delacruz told police the luggage was given to him by an individual outside his Miami hotel, the complaint said. He claimed he had a debt to his friend that would be cleared if he delivered the suitcases but denied knowing there was hashish inside them.
That same day, a K-9 alerted officers to two suitcases with about 37.77 kilograms, or 83.27 pounds, of hashish checked under Ilhan’s name, the office said.
Ilhan told authorities his suitcases were given to him by two people outside a Days Inn hotel in Miami, and he was going to be paid around $20,000 for delivering it, a complaint said. He “denied knowing that there was any hashish inside the suitcases but stated that he was aware that he would be transporting something illegal.”
Delacruz and Ilhan are both charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and attempting to export a controlled substance, the office said. They face up to 20 years in prison on each count, if convicted.
Delacruz and Ilhan are being represented by federal public defenders, who did not respond Sunday to a request for comment.
