Flight attendant accused of having 11 bricks of cocaine in her luggage surrenders

(Image credit: Twitter.com/ABC7NY)

published 24 March 2016

The flight attendant who authorities say fled Los Angeles International Airport Friday night, leaving behind a cocaine-filled suitcase and her Gucci shoes, surrendered on Wednesday in New York.

Marsha Gay Reynolds, a 32-year-old Jamaican who once competed in beauty pageants, has been charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, NBC News reports. While the federal criminal complaint does not name her employer, sources say she worked for JetBlue. Crew members do not usually go through bag screening, and Reynolds was chosen at random to go through a security check, authorities said. TSA agents said she was acting nervous and made a call on her cellphone, speaking in a foreign language. As she was being led to another area, she took off, running down the escalator and leaving her bag and shoes behind.

Inside her suitcase, police found 11 bricks of cocaine, clothes, condoms, and $5.38 in cash, NBC News reports. Her ID was scanned before she fled the airport, but sources say she was somehow able to board a plane and fly back east. Marshall McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, said this case is just one example of why new security measures at airports are needed. "We cannot wait for an employee to bring aboard or plant something nefarious on a plane before we take action," he said.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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