Former CBP officer convicted on drug charges
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer has been convicted in Fort Lauderdale on charges he attempted to help distribute drugs from Puerto Rico to New York and Miami.
Edwin Disla was convicted in U.S. District Court Friday on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, and of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Disla was a CBP officer assigned to Miami International Airport from January 2007 through March 28, 2007.
According to evidence presented at his trial, Disla agreed to transport multikilogram amounts of heroin and cocaine from Puerto Rico to either New York or Miami.
He was caught after a multiweek sting operation. He attempted to deliver 10 kilograms of fake cocaine last February to individuals in Hallendale, Fla., in Broward County. The fake drugs had been moved through Luis Munoz Marin Airport in Puerto Rico and through Miami International Airport, with the agent using his law enforcement credentials to bypass security.
In March, he was arrested in Puerto Rico after receiving a duffel bag from undercover officers that contained 25 kilograms of sham cocaine and 20 kilograms of sham heroin. He received the bag from undercover agents with the Puerto Rican police who were assigned to a Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Task Force.
Disla is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison.