Suspects deny knowledge of heroin found in suitcases at airport

When Jesse Gallegos and Jose Villarreal-Galaviz hopped a plane at McCarran International Airport on Saturday, they ignored a golden rule in air travel: Pack light.

Las Vegas police seized nearly
13 pounds of black tar heroin from their suitcases and arrested the men, who told investigators they did not know the illegal drugs were stashed in secret compartments in their luggage, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court .

Each man gave authorities a different story about why heroin with a street value of more than $1 million was found in their bags.

"Gallegos said the suitcase was given to him by Villarreal and claimed no knowledge of the concealed contraband," the criminal complaint said.

"Villarreal stated that he had purchased the suitcases at a garage sale and denied any knowledge of the packages," the complaint said.

Regardless of how the heroin got in their suitcases, Gallegos, 47, from Glendale, Ariz., and Villarreal-Galaviz, 31, of Nayarit, Mexico, are connected to what the Metropolitan Police Department called one of the largest heroin seizures in its history. Both men are charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

The complaint said a Transportation Security Administration officer became suspicious of Gallegos' suitcase after it set off a baggage scanner alarm.

The officer discovered a compartment affixed with four screws to the pull handle inside the suitcase. The hidden compartment was removed. He found "six individual packages wrapped in black tape and plastic."

Detectives with the Southern Nevada Interdiction Task Force were assigned the case. The task force includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, Las Vegas police, Henderson police and the Nevada Highway Patrol.

After the packages were found in Gallegos' bag, both men were pulled from their American Airlines flight, which was headed to Indianapolis with a stop in Chicago.

Gallegos told a detective that he was a photographer hired by Villarreal-Galaviz to take pictures of snow scenery in Indianapolis. Gallegos said he was going to be paid $500 and expected to return to Arizona on Monday. He told authorities that everything in his suitcase belonged to him and that nobody had asked him to carry any items in his luggage.

Villarreal-Galaviz, who speaks Spanish only, signed a consent form that allowed authorities to search his bag. The investigator discovered a hidden compartment similar to the one in Gallegos' suitcase. The compartment was removed, and six packages wrapped in black tape and plastic were found, the complaint said.

Villarreal-Galaviz denied any knowledge of how the packages got in his suitcase. He told the investigator he lived in Las Vegas but could not provide authorities with his home's address or intersection to where he lives. He told the investigator he only knows how to drive there.

The criminal complaint said Villarreal-Galaviz said he had not booked a return flight. He told the investigator that Gallegos was a photographer with whom he was working.

According to the criminal complaint, Gallegos' suitcase contained 3,182 grams of heroin, about 7 pounds. Villarreal-Galaviz's suitcase had 2,548 grams of the illegal drug, or 5.6 pounds.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.