Authorities say they uncovered $315,000 worth of heroin hidden in the soccer clothes and a banner of a traveler who arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport.
The alleged drugs were uncovered after 29-year-old Elias Casiano Jr. flew into Dulles from Bolivia on Saturday and was selected for a secondary inspection, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria.
The Hazleton, Pa., resident resisted when Customs and Border Protection officers told him to place his luggage on an examination belt, the complaint says. Casiano told the officers that "the luggage belonged to him" and that he had gone to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for 17 days to visit friends, according to the complaint. He also appeared to be nervous, hesitated before answering questions and avoided eye contact, authorities said.
Court documents say an officer noticed a bulge in a soccer team banner in Casiano's suitcase. The officer removed the package, which authorities say was a brown powdery substance that field-tested positive for heroin.
The agents continued to examine Casiano's luggage and found packages sewn into the lining of four pairs of soccer pants and two pairs of soccer shorts, the complaint says.
In total, the officers found about 4.5 kilograms -- or about 9.8 pounds -- of suspected heroin.
The drugs have a street value of about $315,000, CBP spokesman Steve Sapp said. Heroin generally has a street value of $70,000 per kilogram, according to CBP.
Casiano was charged with importation of one kilogram or more of heroin. His attorney couldn't be reached Wednesday.
Soccer gear is only the latest method drug smugglers nabbed at Dulles have used to try to conceal their contraband.
In recent years, CBP officers and drug-sniffing dogs have detected contraband lined in suitcases and magazines. They've also uncovered drug-filled juice boxes, soup packets, clams and religious statues. Other smugglers have swallowed dozens of heroin pellets.
Officials have said that an increasing number of direct flights between Dulles and high-trafficking areas like Latin America has fueled a rise in such cases.
The importation of a controlled substance charge Casiano faces carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars. But most smugglers recently sentenced in area courts have received lighter penalties -- generally three to four years in prison -- because factors such as cooperating with prosecutors often make them eligible for lower sentences.
