Authorities at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport uncovered a massive drug smuggling operation on Monday, seizing more than 200 pounds of marijuana and arresting three suspects, according to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA).
The men taken into custody were identified as Alberto Capo Medina, 43, Rene Cintron III, 46, and Jose Alberto Echevarria, 46… all U.S. citizens. Investigators say the trio had flown United Airlines from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., before connecting to Buffalo.
Officials said an NFTA K9 unit conducted an open-air sniff and quickly alerted officers to nine suspicious suitcases. Inside, investigators discovered 238 vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana, weighing a total of 238 pounds.
The luggage, which had been placed on the baggage carousel, was reportedly collected by Medina, Cintron, and Echevarria, who allegedly tried to flee before being stopped by police.
The suspects were immediately arrested and now face first-degree criminal possession of cannabis charges, authorities confirmed.
This bust is one of the largest marijuana seizures at the Buffalo Niagara Airport in recent years, and investigators say the case remains under review as they work to determine the full scope of the alleged smuggling operation.
