Ex-American Airlines mechanic gets 9 years for smuggling over $250K worth of cocaine from Jamaica to JFK

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A former American Airlines mechanic was sentenced to nine years in prison for his part in a smuggling operation that brought 10 bricks of cocaine from Jamaica to John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Department of Justice announced Friday.

Paul Belloisi, 56, was convicted in May 2023 after a jury trial of a three-count indictment charging him with conspiring to possess and import cocaine, and importing cocaine.

“Belloisi put his personal gain before the safety of the aviation industry by abusing his position to participate in a scheme to import over 25 pounds of cocaine into the U.S., repeatedly storing smuggled narcotics within sensitive areas of passenger airplanes,” Homeland Security Investigations New York acting special agent in charge Darren B. McCormack said. “I am proud to stand alongside the Eastern District of New York and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] in bringing this corrupt ‘inside man’ to justice.”

The scheme was discovered on Feb. 4, 2020, when American Airlines flight 1349 arrived at JFK’s Terminal 8 from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and the aircraft was selected by CBP officers as the subject of a routine search,

Officers found 10 bricks of cocaine weighing 25.56 pounds hidden inside an electronics compartment on the underside of the cockpit, and a trap was laid.

The cocaine, which had a street value of over $250,000, was replaced with fake bricks and sprayed with a substance that glows when illuminated by a black light. CPB and HSI officials then placed the aircraft under surveillance.

Before the plane was meant to take off for its next flight, Belloisi drove up and pulled himself into the electronics compartment. He was confronted by law enforcement, who used the blacklight on his gloves. They glowed, indicating he had handled the fake contraband.

Belloisi, of Smithtown on Long Island, also had an empty tool bag and was wearing a jacket with lining cutouts large enough to hold the bricks.

“This conduct not only furthers the trafficking of drugs that harms our communities, but also poses a serious threat to the security of a vital border crossing in our district and our transportation infrastructure,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that the government takes these threats very seriously, and those who work in trusted positions at our airports and in other critical industries must know that they face serious consequences for crimes of corruption.”