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Guatemalan man admits smuggling chocolate-covered heroin

FILE - This Tuesday, May 19, 2015 file photo shows a firearm and 154 pounds of heroin worth at least $50 million displayed during a Drug Enforcement Administration news conference in New York. According to government data released Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 50,000 in 2015, the highest mark in at least 15 years. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) FILE - This Tuesday, May 19, 2015 file photo shows a firearm and 154 pounds of heroin worth at least $50 million displayed during a Drug Enforcement Administration news conference in New York. According to government data released Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 50,000 in 2015, the highest mark in at least 15 years. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

By Associated Press October 31, 2017 1 min read

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – A man has admitted smuggling chocolate-covered heroin on a flight from Guatemala to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Jacobo Orellana-Estrada on Thursday pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Prosecutors say the Guatemalan citizen arrived in Newark on a flight in June and Customs officers discovered what appeared to be six small layer cakes in his luggage. The cakes turned out to be packages of heroin coated in chocolate.

The 21-year-old faces up to life in prison when he’s sentenced in January.