{"id":249762,"date":"2026-04-28T15:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249762\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:35:07","slug":"large-anomaly-in-fll-passengers-groin-area-was-kilo-of-coke-feds-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249762\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Large anomaly\u2019 in FLL passenger\u2019s \u2018groin area\u2019 was kilo of coke, feds say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Customs officers doing a pat-down on a man arriving on a flight to South Florida from Colombia couldn\u2019t help but notice a \u201clarge anomaly\u201d in his \u201cgroin area,\u201d according to court documents. Agents said it turned out to be nearly 2 kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/espanol\/2026\/04\/28\/feds-detectan-gran-anomalia-en-la-zona-de-la-ingle-de-pasajero-en-fll-que-era-un-kilo-de-cocaina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/espanol\/2026\/04\/28\/feds-detectan-gran-anomalia-en-la-zona-de-la-ingle-de-pasajero-en-fll-que-era-un-kilo-de-cocaina\/\">Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">They say it\u2019s not the first time he\u2019s been caught trafficking the drug.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Investigators said U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers made the discovery at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after Kristopher Marco, 53, of New Castle, Delaware, arrived on Spirit Airlines Flight 946 from Cartagena on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A federal criminal complaint states that CBP officers manning the inspection area and looking through Marco\u2019s luggage first found tablets in a \u201cCentrum vitamin bottle\u201d that he claimed were HIV pills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">According to the complaint, \u201cmultiple Treasury Enforcement Communication System records\u201d on Marco, plus his \u201cnervous behavior,\u201d led them to conduct a pat-down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Officers \u201creported a large anomaly felt in (his) groin area,\u201d it states. When asked what he had, authorities said Marco responded matter-of-factly: \u201cCocaine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">They said it was was 1.75 kilograms, in fact. According to the complaint, the drugs were in a \u201clarge cylindrical-shaped package wrapped in pink cellophane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">According to the complaint, Marco wouldn\u2019t tell Homeland Security Investigations agents where the cocaine came from or where it was supposed to go.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">They said a records check revealed that Marco \u2015 under his former name, Christopher Allen Gransby \u2015 had been arrested by authorities in Nicaragua on Sept. 10, 2024, for trying to enter the country from Costa Rica with 7.69 kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Nicaraguan National Police <a href=\"https:\/\/www.policia.gob.ni\/?p=126694\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.policia.gob.ni\/?p=126694\">said<\/a> he was carrying the bricks of coke in a backpack. About five months after his arrest in Central America, the Virginia-born Gransby changed his name in Delaware to Kristopher Michael Cain Marco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Records show Marco was set to appear in Fort Lauderdale federal court for a hearing on Tuesday morning as he faces a charge of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. They show that prosecutors are seeking pre-trial detention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In the meantime, Marco was being held in the Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office Main Jail facility on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Customs officers doing a pat-down on a man arriving on a flight to South&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-249762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}