A man has been charged in a scheme to smuggle cocaine into New York disguised as packages of cigarettes and candy while working at the United States embassy in the Dominican Republic.
Jairo Eliezer Arias Caceres was working as a security officer at the embassy when prosecutors allege he operated a “transnational conspiracy” to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.
In the scheme, which ran from at least April to December 2023, Arias Caceres is accused of helping to recruit couriers who would transport the drugs into multiple New York area airports by disguising them in the packaging of items purchased from the Santo Domingo Airport Duty Free store, according to a Justice Department statement issued Wednesday.
The DOJ shared photos of the drugs in the packaging of a sweet treat called Choco Pie, Marlboro cigarettes and Gold Label Reserve alcohol.
Arias Caceres also paid for and arranged the couriers’ travel to and from the Dominican Republic and was their main point of contact in the scheme, prosecutors allege.
He was employed at the embassy from 2018 to 2025. He also worked for at least seven years as a security officer at the Santo Domingo Airport.
Prosecutors said Arias Caceres also “organized the logistics of the couriers’ receipt of cocaine from other airport employees.”
He has been charged with one count of conspiracy to import narcotics into the U.S. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. It is not yet clear if Arias Caceres has obtained legal representation.
“While Arias Caceres was supposed to be protecting our diplomats and embassy staff from danger, he was allegedly busy endangering New Yorkers by pumping illegal drugs into our community,” Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Clayton continued: “Abuse of a position of national trust to traffic in deadly narcotics shocks the sensibilities of New Yorkers and the women and men of our office are committed to bringing those who abuse that trust to justice.”
Michael McCarthy, Special Agent in Charge of the Newark Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations, praised the work of authorities who “successfully dismantled a sophisticated trafficking network.”
“HSI remains committed to protecting the American public by targeting and disrupting the transnational criminal organizations that seek to bring illicit drugs into our communities,” McCarthy added.
