March 24--A flight attendant who fled from Los Angeles International Airport just minutes before police found a large stash of cocaine inside her carry-on luggage surrendered to authorities in New York City on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
Marsha Gay Reynolds, who was last seen running away from a security checkpoint inside LAX's Terminal 4 on Friday, surrendered to agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday evening, according to Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles.
Reynolds flew from Los Angeles to New York City, where she resides, after running from authorities at LAX, according to law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
She is charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.
Eimiller said Reynolds was employed by Jet Blue. In a brief statement, the airline said it was cooperating with the FBI and the DEA but declined to comment further.
Reynolds, 31, will appear in federal court in New York City before she is returned to Los Angeles, Eimiller said.
Airport and airline staff aren't normally subject to security screenings at LAX, but Reynolds was selected at random for a screening last Friday. She became nervous, retrieved a cellphone and made a call in a foreign language at that time, according to the complaint.
Reynolds remained on the phone as she was being escorted to a second security area, and continued to walk further and further behind the TSA agent who was accompanying her, the complaint said.
Once they arrived at the screening area, Reynolds kicked off her heels, dropped her bags and ran away from the checkpoint, barreling the wrong way down an escalator as she sprinted toward Terminal 5, the complaint said.
TSA agents decided not to chase Reynolds because they were concerned her bags might contain explosives, according to the complaint. After two separate dogs confirmed the bags did not contain bombs, an airport police officer opened her luggage and found eleven individually wrapped packages of cocaine, the complaint said.
Marshall McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Assn., said earlier this week that Reynolds' easy escape highlights the need to post airport police officers at each security checkpoint, which used to be a common practice.
He also said he doubted that the Friday incident was Reynolds' first attempt at exploiting her security clearance.
"I don't believe anybody would trust a mule with that amount of dope the first time out," he said. "You're talking about $2 million worth of cocaine.... That's pretty troubling. This is more than likely not her first time doing this."
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