Delta Flight Attendants Face Drug Trafficking Charges

A pair of Delta flight attendants were arrested Tuesday after drugs were found in their luggage at Miami International Airport.

Marcelo Chaves, 44, and his live-in boyfriend, Ronald Maldonado, 35, were found to be in possession of liquid Ketamine, 41 pills of Methamphetamine, and GBL, a GHB substitute, according to a report in The Independent. The two off-duty flight attendants had just disembarked an American Airlines flight from Brazil to Miami.

After a random security check, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found the drugs hidden in clear cosmetics bottles, according to WPLG Local 10 News.

Chaves and Maldonado told investigators they “had been doing drugs in Brazil,” but didn’t know how they ended up in their luggage.

It is unknown why Chaves, who has lived in New York and New Jersey for 12 years, was visiting Miami.

Marcelo Chaves appeared in a South Florida bond court on Thursday. Maldonado, originally arrested alongside Chaves, is now listed as a co-defendant on the case, and did not appear in court.

The judge informed Chaves that he would be held on a $115,000 bond. He will also be required to attend a Nebbia hearing, used to determine whether funds used to post bail are from legitimate sources.

Delta has suspended the flight attendants pending outcomes of the investigation.