Oakland airport security officer accused of helping smuggle drugs

For many travelers, airport security checks mean taking off shoes, occasionally getting patted down and having carry-on baggage screened through an X-ray machine.

But federal officials say one security officer at Oakland International Airport arranged for certain people to smuggle marijuana -- ignoring the X-ray machine’s tell-tale signs that something could be amiss.

According to an indictment unsealed Thursday, Kiana Scott Clark, a transportation security officer, worked with co-conspirators to smuggle “100 kilograms and more of marijuana” over more than two years.

She is being charged with four counts of conspiracy: Two for obstructing Transportation Security Administration functions and two for conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

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On days that she worked, Clark’s co-conspirators would obtain airline tickets and boarding passes for flights departing from Oakland International Airport, according to the indictment.

“5 o clock last left,” Clark texted one co-conspirator on or about April 16, specifying the time and security lane for the X-ray machine she was operating. Clark would then ignore X-ray images indicating that the carry-on baggage might contain something that needed to be checked, the indictment says.

Earlier this year three Southwest Airlines baggage handlers were among 14 people charged with bypassing security at Oakland International Airport in order to smuggle several hundred pounds of marijuana across the country.

The baggage handlers would bring backpacks and duffel bags containing marijuana into restricted areas of the airport, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco. Using security badges, they’d enter the airport terminal and hand off the drugs to a ticketed passenger who had already passed through airport security, according to a sworn affidavit filed by federal investigators.

Twitter: @brittny_mejia

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