4 flight attendants arrested accused of taking millions in drug money to Dominican Republic

Four flight attendants abused “their privileges as airline employees” and smuggled “millions of dollars in drug money” from New York City to the Dominican Republic, federal authorities said Wednesday.

The suspects had access to the Known Crewmember (KCM) lane at John F. Kennedy International Airport, allowing them quick and X-ray-free passage through security, authorities said.

“Given these relaxed security procedures, KCM privileges actually allow flight attendants to bypass airport security with large amounts of cash without that cash being confiscated,” according to a complaint filed by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations.

Charlie Hernandez, 42; Sarah Valerio Pujols, 24; Emmanuel Torres, 34; and Jarol Fabio, 35, all face various charges related to “unlicensed money transmission,” prosecutors said.

Hernandez lives in West New York, New Jersey, while the other three defendants reside in New York City, officials said.

They are accused of smuggling a total of about $8 million in “bulk cash” into the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said.

“As alleged, over many years these flight attendants smuggled millions of dollars in drug money and what they believed to be drug money and law enforcement money from the United States to the Dominican Republic by abusing their privileges as airline employees,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

An informant gave Hernandez $121,215 — money that “came from drug trafficking” — and he then gave Pujols $61,215 of that money so they could take her to the Dominican Republic in December 2019, the complaint says.

Torres is accused of smuggling at least $1.5 million in drug money into the Dominican Republic between 2015 and 2022, the lawsuit says. According to federal authorities, Fabio secretly stole $1.5 million between 2015 and 2023.

Delta Airlines confirmed that two of the defendants work for the Atlanta-based airline.

“Delta has cooperated fully with law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to do so,” the airline said in a statement.

The four were arrested on Tuesday, a Homeland Security spokesman said.

A lawyer for Pujols said her client was no longer in custody but declined further comment.

A lawyer for Fabio could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. No attorneys were listed in court records for Hernandez and Torres.