Smuggling in South Florida ranges from the dangerous to the bizarre
Last edited Tue Mar 12, 2013, 06:13 PM - Edit history (1)
Drug smuggling seems so passé.
Recent cases of illegal trade in South Florida suggest a more diverse menu of commodities is emerging that answer unusual market demands. The rogue state of Iran is one customer; Chinese rhinoceros horn cup drinkers are another.
And as with bygone cocaine-running days, the southeast coast of Florida still offers fertile incubation for black market traders, who, court filings indicate, operate out of U.S. post offices and Miami warehouses.
"You have to think about the fact that this is a major, major port of entry and a port of exit," said Eduardo Gamarra, professor of international relations at Florida International University. His current research focuses on narcotics deals on Hispaniola.
Toss into the mix that residents here have contacts all over Latin America and the world. "We have a very transient society," Gamarra said. Plus, "Florida doesn't really produce anything — most of our economy is really services."
Services such as, say, Airbus A300 delivery.
Prosecutors say ex-airplane mechanic Diocenyr Ribamar Barbosa-Santos, 52, tried to send seven of them to Iran from China. The Fort Worth man, originally from Brazil, brokered the busted $136.5 million deal from an undisclosed proprietary establishment in Broward County. He didn't know he was meeting with an undercover agent there.
That case is unresolved, but Barbosa-Santos bonded out of jail and is living in an apartment with his sister in Hallandale Beach while his Fort Lauderdale lawyer tries to mitigate the sting of allegedly violating Iranian trade sanctions...
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-smuggling-planes-20130310,0,875932.story
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