A 30-year-old woman from Washington state made her initial appearance in court this morning after she was allegedly found with more than 34 pounds of cocaine in her luggage as she tried to board a flight to Tokyo.
Vanesa Selena Ramirez is charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Ramirez made her initial appearance this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to detain her without bail until trial. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Monday.
Ramirez is being held at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu.
On Friday, at about 2:10 p.m. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport told Homeland Security Investigations agents that they allegedly found cocaine in Ramirez’s luggage.
CPB officers told HSI agents they found 15.5 kilograms of cocaine in two separate checked bags on a Japan Airlines flight bound for Haneda, Japan.
At 4:15 p.m. Friday, CPB officers asked Ramirez about the bags and she allegedly produced matching claim tags. At 4:45 p.m. Friday two HSI agents interviewed Ramirez, according to an affidavit by one of the agents.
Ramirez allegedly admitted that she knew the bags were packed with illegal cargo but she did not believe it was illegal drugs. She said she was paid $5,000 to take the bags to Tokyo. Once in Tokyo, she was to meet an unknown individual who would take the luggage.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health,Labor and Welfare, cocaine and other narcotics are “strictly regulated” by the “Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control Act” and violations of the law carry heavy prison sentences.
Possession, use, sale, importing, and other cocaine law violations carry prison sentences up to 10 years and fines up to five million yen, which is more than $30,000.