FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 23, 1998
Contact: Jeff Nelligan OIG Communications Director
Telephone: (202) 366-6312
OIG 9-98
Pesticide placed aboard airliner
MIAMI MAN PLEADS GUILTY
TO UNLAWFULLY SHIPPING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have announced that a Miami man has pleaded guilty to unlawfully shipping hazardous materials, including an attempt to place pesticide aboard an American Airlines aircraft at Miami International Airport.
Angel Dante Fuentes, president of Executive Freight Consolidators, Inc., of Miami, pleaded guilty last week to three counts of unlawfully shipping hazardous materials. Sentencing is set for May 22, 1998, and Fuentes faces possible imprisonment of up to 11 years and fines totaling $600,000.
On Oct. 1, 1997, Fuentes caused a 500-pound shipment of Dowicide A, a pesticide, to be loaded aboard an American Airlines passenger flight bound for Quito, Ecuador. The Dowicide was discovered when one of the ten 50-pound bags was torn open during loading operations. Fumes were released, sickening several people nearby and causing the plane to be evacuated. Fuentes was also charged in connection with an offer to move an additional 2,000 pounds of the Dowicide by ship from Port Everglades, Fla., on Oct. 6, 1997.
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations strictly controls interstate and foreign shipment of hazardous materials. Marking, labeling, and packaging of even allowable quantities of hazardous materials that may be shipped are closely controlled by the regulatory process to minimize hazards to humans and the environment.
The cooperative work by special agents of the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General, the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency led to Fuentes’ plea.
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