What kind of people are working for the Transportation Security Administration? And what are they doing? Sure — they wand your crotch and stare at you naked (or did), but what else?

Well, for six current and former employees, the answer is: smuggle 20 tons of cocaine between 1988 and 2016.

Nicely done.

Total value: $100 million.

From Fox News:

“A dozen members of the alleged ring, including TSA workers and airport employees, were indicted Feb. 8 in the District of Puerto Rico on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine…”

I guess “Transportation SECURITY Administration” was a good cover. Therefore, a federal sting was a might complicated to set up.

The coke carriers were able to take their power powder right through carry-on and checked-baggage channels. Install a few co-conspirators at the x-ray station and voilà — golden.

Drug mules would then board the loaded planes that were just plain loaded.

But they ain’t no more! U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez hailed the arrests:

“These individuals were involved in a conspiracy to traffic massive quantities of illegal narcotics to the continental United States. These arrests demonstrate the success of the AirTAT initiative, which has successfully allocated a dedicated group of state and federal law enforcement officers, whose mission is to ensure that our airports are not used in the drug traffickers’ illicit businesses.”

I guess a group of crooks within the TSA smuggling illegal items or substances is kind of a no-brainer. How’s the agency doing otherwise?

Well, in 2015, in a test of efficacy, the Department of Homeland Security attempted to sneak through 70 weapons. TSA detected three.

Additionally — according to a report that same year — failing to identify them, the Transportation Security Administration hired 73 individuals on terrorist watch lists.

At least the 6 individuals are finally in custody. Still, though they may be frowning now, a buncha scoundrels went long undetected, right under the noses of people tasked with keeping us safe. For almost three long decades, they were able to stuff their pockets and — like the commercial says — Have a Coke and a Smile.

-Alex

See 3 more pieces from me: septic shock, toxic shock, and racist shock.

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below. For iPhone instructions, see the bottom of this page.

﻿

﻿

If you have an iPhone and want to comment, select the box with the upward arrow at the bottom of your screen; swipe left and choose “Request Desktop Site.” You may have to do this several times before the page reloads. Scroll down to the red horizontal bar that says “Show Comments.”