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Image via Orlando International Airport
Florida, irresistible to vacationers and theme park junkies, gives off an air of endless opportunity to all those who enter it.
That is, all except for one California man who is now under arrest after landing at Orlando International Airport with 38 pounds of methamphetamine and four pounds of pot in his suitcase.
Michael Jayson Scarlett, 43, was arrested after drug-sniffing dogs alerted agents on his suitcase, which was found to, indeed, be housing an exuberant amount of illegal drugs.
Scarlett now faces charges of possession and intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation screened luggage Sunday morning on inbound flights coming from areas with known drug trafficking activity.
Scarlett flew into Orlando International Airport on a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport, the affidavit said.
When confronted, Scarlett told agents he was looking for work in Orlando. Later, however, once Scarlett was in custody, he told agents “he knew he messed up, and ... was in a lot of trouble.”
Scarlett told agents a man named "Chewy" paid him $500 to take the suitcase to Orlando — and that he had done so two other times as well, the affidavit said.
Text exchanges on Scarlett's phone led agents to believe Chewy was present at the time Scarlett landed, as the employer fed Scarlett instructions on how to shake security.
“If clear pretend to grab wrong bag first then grab [yours],” Chewy wrote.
“Yeah I’ll test,” Scarlett replied.
Scarlett is being held in Orange County Jail ahead of his detention hearing later this week. It is unknown whether agents have identified or arrested Chewy.
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