Puerto Rico Police Officer and Two Other Individuals Charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 17, 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Zachary Quiñones-Bon, Jouseph Quiñones-Andino and Alexander Martínez-Andino for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately 67 kilograms of cocaine, which they attempted to smuggle in luggage through the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(a)(1).

W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, and Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement. The FBI and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau are investigating the case.

According to the government’s allegations in a criminal complaint filed in the case, on March 17, 2024, the three defendants conspired to possess with intent to distribute approximately 67 kilograms of cocaine at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU).  In addition, Quiñones-Bon is charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c). 

Quiñones-Bon, a PRPB police officer assigned to work at the airport, utilized his credentials and uniform to access one of the terminals at the airport with pieces of luggage full of cocaine. Once inside the terminal, Quiñones-Bon (in police uniform and armed with his police-issued firearm) handed off the luggage to Quiñones-Andino and Martínez-Andino, who then took the luggage to a bathroom and unloaded the contents into different bags. Quiñones-Andino and Martínez-Andino then attempted to board a domestic flight headed to the State of Florida. The luggage containing approximately 67 kilograms of cocaine was seized and the three individuals were arrested.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys César Rivera and Jonathan Gottfried of the Violent Crimes Section are in charge of the prosecution of the case.  Special Agent Jonathan Vega of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the case agent of the investigation.  If convicted on the drug trafficking conspiracy, the defendants face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Quiñones-Bon also faces a mandatory consecutive sentence of five years to life imprisonment on the firearms charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This investigation is part of the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF) and the Airport Investigations and Tactical Team (AirTAT). The specific mission of the CCSF is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle large scale international drug trafficking and money laundering organizations importing and further transshipping controlled substances, and related money laundering activities. CCSF signatory agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

AirTAT is an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) co-located multi-agency initiative created to identify, locate, disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute Domestic and Transnational Criminal Organizations (DTCOs) and its operatives using the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (LMMIA), the Fernando Luis Rivas Dominicci Airport (FLRDA), and airport peripherals as platforms to smuggle narcotics, weapons, human cargo, counterfeit documents, illicit proceeds, and other contraband through these critical airport infrastructures.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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