A Chula Vista man was sentenced Sept. 11 to seven years in federal prison for smuggling methamphetamine out of the San Diego International Airport where he once worked as a baggage handler.
Paulo Mendez-Perez, 37, is the only person among 11 people who were indicted in March 2014 who was detained without bail as a “serious flight risk,” in the words of one judge at the start of the case. He will receive credits for one and a half years in jail.
Mendez-Perez pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in a May 31, 2013, incident in which 18 pounds of the drug were seized in Hawaii after he helped smuggle it to a drug courier.
His attorney, Roseline Feral, recommended to U.S. District Court Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz that he only get a five-year term, while the prosecutor sought a 97-month sentence. Feral wrote in court papers the conspiracy to smuggle drugs was already in operation when he was recruited.
Like three other baggage handlers, Mendez-Perez worked for Delta Global Services, and his security badge granted him and the others access to areas without being searched. Mendez-Perez and others would go to a men’s restroom and hand packages drugs from one stall to another.
The restrooms were selected as smuggling areas because there were no cameras there. A drug courier would take the drugs and put them in either carry-on bags or inside their luggage. Authorities first spotted a nervous courier in the baggage claim area in January 2013 and were surprised he was being aided by airport employees.
Feral wrote in court papers that Mendez-Perez will return to Guatemala after his sentence is over as he has a son there and is not a U.S. citizen. She said he was not a leader or organizer in the scheme and only made $2,500 during his involvement.
Another Delta baggage handler, Saul Bojorquez Aviles, 27, of Chula Vista, was the first person sentenced in the ring and he received five years in prison for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Felix Samuel Garcia, 31, of Imperial Beach, received 87 months.
