Old laundry secret leads to odd drug bust in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. -- When "laundering" comes up in narcotics cases, it usually has to do with concealing drug money. Not so in the latest case at Orlando International Airport, according to federal court documents.

A Colombian laundry used heroin as starch for shirts and blue jeans and hired a smuggler to take the drug-soaked clothes into Florida, the documents said.

Customs Service inspectors stopped Alejandro Mejia Garcia at the airport on Feb. 5 and noticed the unusually stiff clothes that smelled of vinegar and left a trail of white powder, according to the documents.

Mejia was charged with smuggling heroin and held Thursday at an undisclosed location without bail. He could face a life sentence if convicted of smuggling more than 2.2 pounds of heroin.

Mejia told customs agents he was promised $12,500 by smugglers in Colombia to carry the clothing to the United States, the court papers say.

Drug agents also arrested three men who came to the airport to receive the clothing, customs officials said. Mejia, who arrived on a flight from Panama, had been scheduled to board a connecting flight to New York.

Customs supervisory agent Stephen R. Callan said heroin starching is an old smuggling method that has recently resurfaced.