ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – After receiving a tip, officials said they intercepted a man at Orlando International Airport with more than 25 pounds of marijuana in his luggage. They also tracked down several of his alleged accomplices.
Officials with Orange County said they received information on Tuesday that Hector Garcia Rivera would be traveling Friday from Portland, Oregon, to OIA with a large amount of cannabis.
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After his luggage arrived at the airport, a certified narcotics canine conducted a “sniff” of the luggage and gave a positive alert, indicating the pretense of an illegal controlled substance, officials said.
After retrieving his luggage from the baggage carousel, authorities stopped Rivera and explained they were doing a narcotics investigation and asked to talk to him.
Officials said Rivera dropped his head and responded, “You got me. You know what’s in the bag — it’s weed.”
He then consented to open the suitcase.
Officers reported finding three large shrink-wrapped, vacuum sealed bags that contained a green leafy substance, which was tested and resulted in a positive presence of cannabis.
Rivera told authorities he flew to Portland to bring the marijuana back to Orlando and that someone named Amine Hinaoui was going to pay him $1,200 to do so. In addition, he said a woman named Felicity Love was supposed to pick him up from the airport in a black Volkswagen. He was then to be taken to the Diamond Club at 527 N. Semoran Blvd., where Hinaoui, Irving Pena-Molina and Felix Gonzalez would be waiting for him to deliver the marijuana.
A short time later, authorities detained Love.
Rivera went to the Diamond Club, where officials followed him as he met with his alleged accomplices.
Officials said they have probable cause to arrest Rivera with trafficking cannabis, as well as Love, Pena-Molina and Hinaoui for conspiracy to traffic in cannabis.