Miami Herald Logo

Another heroin-swallowing man arrested at FLL; cluster of drug mules suspected | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Deadline Miami

Another heroin-swallowing man arrested at FLL; cluster of drug mules suspected

By Alfonso Chardy

achardy@elnuevoherald.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

November 01, 2014 10:36 AM

A second Colombian man has been arrested at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport after revealing to passport control officers that he had swallowed 29 capsules containing heroin.

The arrest Oct. 10 of Jair García Davila was almost a carbon copy of the Sept. 23 detention, also at the same airport, of Harold Edwin Hernández Calderón, who admitted to federal agents that he had swallowed 34 heroin-filled capsules.

Federal investigators say that smuggling heroin in capsules swallowed by a “mule” or courier is often used as a method of concealed transportation by traffickers in Colombia. Investigators began noticing this trend three years ago when a joint investigation with Colombian authorities revealed that traffickers persuaded several people at the same time to swallow between 30 and 60 capsules and carry them to the United States. Traffickers used several couriers at the same time in hopes that only a few would be caught.

The cases detected at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport suggest that the two men caught in recent days may be part of a cluster of heroin couriers dispatched from Colombia.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

In the previous case, when Hernández Calderón was arrested, the suspect told authorities he had swallowed heroin-filled capsules that had been given to him by two people who prepared them in a residence in Pereira, a city west of Bogotá, the Colombian capital. Then the suspet boarded a Spirit Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale at the airport in Armenia, just north of Pereira.

Then on arrival, Hernández Calderón he told passport control officers he had ingested the 34 heroin capsules, which he later expelled in the bathroom. Hernández Calderón also told investigators that he was ultimately taking the capsules to New York, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

In the latest case, when García Davila was singled out for questioning at the airport, he also had just arrived from Armenia aboard a Spirit Airlines flight. He also revealed to officers quickly that he had swallowed capsules – but in García Davila’s case, he thought they were filled with cocaine.

But a field test of the substance in the capsules García Davila passed showed it was heroin, according to a criminal complaint filed by a special agent of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The complaint does not say where García Davila obtained the capsules nor whether he was supposed to take them to New York like the previous suspect.

HSI said it does not comment on cases that are in judicial proceedings.

García Davila’s attorney could not be reached for comment. García Davila has been indicted and on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in court.

  Comments  

Videos

Five Americans arrested in Haiti fly back to the U.S.

Florida police officers replace elderly man’s stolen bicycle

View More Video

Trending Stories

Why were former members of the U.S. military driving around Haiti heavily armed?

February 19, 2019 07:49 PM

Cuts are coming for Dolphins’ receivers, but there’s one their new coach raves about

February 19, 2019 12:31 PM

Think Florida is a ‘sinful’ place to live? You’re right, according to this new study

February 20, 2019 01:18 PM

Here’s one pricey player that the Miami Dolphins’ new offensive line coach wants back

February 19, 2019 04:54 PM

Haiti’s economic lifeline has taken a hit. Expedia just made it worse.

February 19, 2019 06:04 PM

Read Next

He went straight from the hospital to the police station. Now he’s charged with murder

Crime

He went straight from the hospital to the police station. Now he’s charged with murder

By Carli Teproff

    ORDER REPRINT →

March 06, 2018 11:07 PM

Police say Luis Gomez Hernandez stabbed a security guard for La Orquidea Restaurant in Southwest Miami-Dade Feb. 25. He was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree murder after leaving the hospital.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE DEADLINE MIAMI

Police called a van parked in Little Havana a ‘mobile bomb.’ Here’s why.

Little Havana - Flagami

Police called a van parked in Little Havana a ‘mobile bomb.’ Here’s why.

March 06, 2018 07:23 PM
Teen arrested after posting online threat to ‘kill people’ at several Broward schools

Broward County

Teen arrested after posting online threat to ‘kill people’ at several Broward schools

February 18, 2018 10:46 PM
He offered a 10-year-old girl a ride to school. He had other intentions, police say.

Crime

He offered a 10-year-old girl a ride to school. He had other intentions, police say.

February 13, 2018 05:14 PM
He died from a gunshot wound inside a public park. The killer is still on the loose.

Broward County

He died from a gunshot wound inside a public park. The killer is still on the loose.

February 11, 2018 06:05 PM
Pedestrian injured in Brightline crash, sixth case since last year

Broward County

Pedestrian injured in Brightline crash, sixth case since last year

February 08, 2018 09:07 PM
He used more than one credit card to buy gas. That’s when the cops were called.

Coral Gables

He used more than one credit card to buy gas. That’s when the cops were called.

February 08, 2018 10:59 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story