A Manhattan drug dealer flew the red eye from LA to JFK with a pair of rabbit dolls — stuffed with more than four pounds of methamphetamine — packed in his luggage, authorities said.
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents grew suspicious last week when they searched the luggage of passenger “Mateus Ciqueira Lima,” and noticed an odd “crunching” sound when they squeezed the cute bunny rabbits.
U.S. Marshals had received a tip that wanted Manhattan drug dealer Lucas DaSilva was flying into JFK Airport on the overnight Jet Blue flight from Los Angeles last Thursday, court papers state.
Indeed, DaSilva used the Lima alias to fly back to the Big Apple and also had a fake Brazilian passport. When DaSilva stepped off the plane at 5:22 a.m. and began heading towards baggage claim, he was intercepted and taken to a Manhattan DEA office, court papers state.
Agents described how they zeroed in on the pair of stuffed animals they found in DaSilva’s luggage. “A search revealed two stuffed toy rabbits, which were unusually heavy and made a crunching noise when squeezed,” court papers state.
A gutting of the rabbits revealed several plastic bags stuffed with 1,844 grams of meth, according to court papers.
With his permission, agents later searched DaSilva’s Manhattan home and recovered another 333 grams of the drug hidden in coffee cans as well as 28 grams of heroin, papers state.
DaSilva was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Friday and held without bail pending a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
He will also have to answer to a prior 2012 methamphetamine sales rap from Florida.