- A Guatemalan man on Thursday pleaded guilty in U.S. Federal Court in Trenton to attempting to smuggle three kilograms of heroin coated in chocolate
- Jacobo Leonel Orellana-Estrada, 21, got off of a flight from Guatemala City at Newark Airport on June 11
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped him to search his luggage
- Authorities found six small, single-layer cakes that were actually packages of heroin coated in a thin layer of chocolate and wrapped in paper
- Orellana-Estrada’s pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin
- It leaves him facing a maximum penalty of life in prison
A man has admitted smuggling chocolate-covered heroin on a flight from Guatemala to Newark Liberty International Airport.
Jacobo Orellana-Estrada, 21, on Thursday pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Prosecutors say the Guatemalan citizen arrived in Newark on a flight in June and Customs officers discovered what appeared to be six small layer cakes in his luggage.
The cakes turned out to be packages of heroin coated in a thin layer of chocolate and wrapped in paper.
The 21-year-old faces up to life in prison when he’s sentenced in January.
A Guatemalan man had admitted to smuggling chocolate-covered heroin through a New York-area airport (file photo)
Prosecutors say the Guatemalan citizen arrived in Newark, pictured, on a flight in June and Customs officers discovered what appeared to be six small layer cakes in his luggage