Grantley Adams Airport tied to two drug cases

(Barbados Nation) Security at Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) has been called into question as two recent drug cases – one in the United States and one in Britain – revealed it as a smuggling point for illegal drugs out of Barbados.

A New York Times story last Friday reported testimony in the case against Barbadian Victor Bourne, who lived in the United States, indicating that some baggage handlers at GAIA were involved in concealing dope aboard American Airlines Flight 1384 to the United States.

Bourne, 34, who worked as a baggage handler for American Airlines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, was convicted last October of importing and distributing narcotics, as well as conspiring to do so; wire fraud conspiracy, conspiring to avoid financial reporting requirements through structural financial transactions and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. He faces a life sentence.

The story noted testimony of several American Airlines employees that he “had criminal connections in Barbados, bought cocaine in bulk and arranged for baggage handlers in Barbados to hide it on planes bound for New York”.

(Barbados Nation) Security at Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) has been called into question as two recent drug cases – one in the United States and one in Britain – revealed it as a smuggling point for illegal drugs out of Barbados.

A New York Times story last Friday reported testimony in the case against Barbadian Victor Bourne, who lived in the United States, indicating that some baggage handlers at GAIA were involved in concealing dope aboard American Airlines Flight 1384 to the United States.

Bourne, 34, who worked as a baggage handler for American Airlines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, was convicted last October of importing and distributing narcotics, as well as conspiring to do so; wire fraud conspiracy, conspiring to avoid financial reporting requirements through structural financial transactions and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. He faces a life sentence.

The story noted testimony of several American Airlines employees that he “had criminal connections in Barbados, bought cocaine in bulk and arranged for baggage handlers in Barbados to hide it on planes bound for New York”.