US border officer charged with smuggling bricks of cocaine

ATLANTA -- A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer is accused of smuggling more than a dozen bricks of cocaine from the U.S. Virgin Islands into the U.S. after he was allowed to bypass security because of his job.

Prosecutors say the scheme was foiled after his flight arrived at Atlanta's airport and a K-9 sniffed out the drugs in his carry-on luggage on Jan. 10. Authorities say the bricks of cocaine amounted to 17.8 kilograms.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that the officer was recently arraigned on multiple charges including intending to distribute cocaine and having a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.