We can’t get a Pepsi through security. Still, a California gangster had the gumption to think he could sneak up to $700,000 in methamphetamine through Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Federal investigators found the drug in the luggage of 47-year-old Rashad Jamal Blanchard and arrested him after his flight from Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2023.
In a federal courtroom in Charlotte Friday, Blanchard was sentenced to 20 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Dena King said.
Blanchard was already on the radar of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations when agents found the drug in his luggage, according to court documents. He was a known member of the Inglewood Family Gangster Bloods, prosecutors said.
HSI’s Queen City Regional Border Security Task Force searched Blanchard’s four checked suitcases and found 46 kilograms of methamphetamine, court records show.
A kilogram of meth sells for $6,500 to $15,000, depending on purity, location and availability, according to Recovered.org, which helps people find resources to treat addictions.