Officials at airport seize cocaine stashed in wheelchair

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal authorities say a man has been arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina, after he was stopped in the city’s airport with more than 23 pounds (more than 10 kilograms) of cocaine concealed in the seat cushions of a motorized wheelchair.

U. S. Customs and Border Protection officers encountered the traveler as he was arriving at Charlotte Douglas International Airport from the Dominican Republic this week, according to a Friday news release.

“His answers didn’t match up. His physical purported handicap did not match up. That was a tell-tale sign that there was something suspicious,” Mike Prado, a Homeland Security Investigations deputy special agent, told WSOC-TV.

The four packages containing cocaine were discovered within the seat cushions and had an estimated street value of $378,000, according to the news release.

The 22-year-old man was charged with trafficking in cocaine. Officials say he was a lawful, permanent U.S. resident.