AA Mechanic Caught Stuffing Bricks of Cocaine in His Jacket: Sentenced to Nine Years
A federal jury convicted Paul Belloisi of using his job as an American Airlines mechanic to smuggle cocaine. Photo credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York.
Paul Belloisi, 55, was convicted in May 2023 on all three counts in the indictment: conspiring to possess cocaine, conspiring to import cocaine and importing cocaine. The indictment states that Belloisi did not work alone, but it does not name the other conspirators.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Darren McCormack said in the press release that Belloisi put personal gain above the safety of the aviation industry. “His demise should send a message to anyone attempting to exploit the aviation industry,” McCormack said.
Repurposing the Cockpit for Drug Smuggling
Belloisi’s downfall began in early February 2020 when Customs and Border Protection officers selected Flight 1349 out of Montego Bay, Jamaica, for a routine inspection. As part of their inspection, CBP examined the external panels of the plane, including the main avionics compartment found on the underside of the cockpit. There, they found 10 bricks of cocaine weighing approximately 26 pounds, concealed behind an insulation blanket.
CBP replaced the cocaine with sham bricks and sprayed them, along with the insulation blanket, with a substance that glows under blacklight. They also placed a transponder with the sham bricks that would activate if disturbed. Authorities then surveilled the plane from a distance for several hours. About a half-hour before takeoff, as the plane was boarding, Belloisi arrived and pulled himself inside the electronics compartment.
Officers confronted Belloisi while he was adjusting the insulation blanket and discovered that his gloves glowed with the substance they had sprayed. The “tug vehicle” Belloisi was driving had an empty tool bag, allegedly for storing and transporting the cocaine, and Belloisi’s jacket had cutouts large enough to hold the bricks.
John M. Moloney, a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the bag and jacket would have been sufficient to carry the drugs. “In my training and experience, narcotics smugglers commonly make such cutouts to carry concealed contraband in the interior lining of coats and jackets,” Moloney said.
The street value of the cocaine authorities found was estimated at $250,000.
Violating the Public Trust
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Belloisi’s actions harmed communities and threatened the security of New York state’s border crossings and transportation infrastructure.
“The defendant abused his insider position at JFK Airport to help smuggle more than 25 pounds of cocaine into the United States in a highly sensitive electronics compartment of an international aircraft… Those who work in trusted positions at our airports and in other critical industries must know that they face serious consequences for crimes of corruption,” Peace said.
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