Drug trafficker caught on airport hotel CCTV pushing drug-laden trolley bound for Liverpool

Drug trafficker caught on airport hotel CCTV pushing drug-laden trolley bound for Liverpool

Leonardo Petrosillo and Edwin Spears were jailed this month for their plot to smuggle drugs on a private plane to John Lennon Airport

CCTV images taken from a New Jersey hotel show the moment a drug trafficker pushes a trolley laden with cannabis and cocaine before loading it on a private jet bound for Liverpool. But the plane never left the ground after agents from United States Customs and Border Protection and the FBI raided it, arresting American nationals Leonardo Petrosillo and Edwin Spears, also known as "Money".

The two men had plotted to smuggle the drug haul, consisting of 12.6kg of cocaine, over 230kg of cannabis and approximately 1,000 cartridges of suspected tetrahydrocannabinol, known on the streets as THC, from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Petrosillo, 46 of West Milford in New Jersey, and Spears, 50, and two other passengers, referred to as individual one and individual two, were arrested on the plane.

Investigations revealed individual one was an adult exotic dancer from Maryland, who was offered money to take an Uber to the airport and claim some of the baggage in which the drugs were stashed were hers. Individual two was her friend who accompanied her on the trip, while Spears' girlfriend was also on the plane. US authorities believed the dancer and her friend were on the flight as part of a ruse to account for all the luggage.

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Spears claimed ownership of the drugs, but the investigation indicated both men were jointly involved in the conspiracy. Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, obtained CCTV footage from outside a hotel in the vicinity of Teterboro Airport. It appeared to show the two men transporting two luggage carts between the hotel and two vehicles at around 4am on the day of their arrests.

The large pieces of luggage were consistent with those found on board the private plane. Law enforcement agents also collected surveillance camera footage of the car park outside the terminal around an hour before they raided the plane. The indictment said three vehicles arrived at the terminal carrying individuals who "appeared to be Spears, Spears' girlfriend and Petrosillo".

Spears has an extensive criminal record and previous indictments and analysis of phone records show he is a member of a gang associated with the Bloods, as well as several New York Mafia families. Both men were jailed earlier this month after appearing before a judge.

You can read the full story here. You can view the CCTV of Petrosillo at the hotel and images of the luggage bags full of drugs below.

1. CCTV of Leonardo Petrosillo at a hotel

   

2. CCTV of Leonardo Petrosillo loading suitcases of drugs

   

3. Drug packets seized by US law enforcement

   

4. Luggage used to attempt to smuggle the drugs

1. Designer luggage stashed with drugs

2. 12.6kg of cocaine and over 230kg of cannabis were seized

3. The plane was raided before it could take off

4. Law enforcement also seized 1,000 cartridges of THC