Ex-Agent Charged With Letting Pot Pass Through LAX
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former airport screening officer has been indicted on charges of taking money to allow bags of marijuana headed to North Carolina pass through security at Los Angeles International Airport.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles says 33-year-old Deondre Smith was charged Friday with bribery of a public official and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
It's unclear whether Smith has an attorney.
Prosecutors say Smith was a Transportation Security Administration officer when he accepted payments of at least $500 to let the pot pass through LAX security checkpoints and be loaded onto airplanes heading to Charlotte.
Others involved have been convicted of federal drug trafficking charges in North Carolina. Prosecutors say the conspiracy moved at least 50 kilograms of marijuana in 2009 and 2010.
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