MSP Airport Police Arrest Two with 50+ Pounds of Cocaine
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Two people from Detroit are charged after MSP Airport police officers discovered large amounts of cocaine in their luggage this week.
Police say on May 16, Ladale Jajaun Solomon Jr., 29, had arrived on an inbound flight to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on a flight from Los Angeles and was scheduled to make a connecting flight to Cleveland, Ohio. He had checked a 59 pound suitcase on the flight, which a certified drug detection dog provided a positive alert to the odor of controlled substances.
Undercover officers made contact with Solomon as he was leaving the baggage claim area. Police say Solomon’s connecting flight left in less than an hour, but he told officers he was trying to get an Uber to go get a drink. Solomon was questioned about the bag and gave officers inconsistent statements.
Solomon was detained while officers obtained a search warrant for the suitcase. Inside, they found 25.6 pounds of cocaine.
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In an interview with law enforcement, Solomon initially denied any knowledge of the cocaine. Solomon said that he flew from Detroit to Los Angeles for the purpose of picking up a bag to transport to Ohio. He got paid “some thousands of dollars” to transport the bag. Solomon told officers he thought the bag contained money, not cocaine. Solomon then told officers he was traveling with his “lady,” identified as Leila Darsel Ivery, 28, who was on a different flight and told officers she was “carrying cash, too.”
Solomon allowed officers to search his phone and provided his passcode. Officers recovered deleted text messages to Ivery as well as an unsaved number. In messages exchanged with the unsaved number, Solomon asked what to do and say when police began questioning him. The number replied, “don’t admit to s***,” and “just play dumb as you can or freestyle.” The last text Solomon sent to the number was, “don’t text back taking phone.”
Officers looked into Ivery and discovered that she was flying into Minneapolis from Los Angeles, had a connecting flight to Cleveland, and had also checked a suitcase. Her bag was located and found it was identical to the one Solomon had. A drug detection dog alerted to the odor of a controlled substance.
Officers located Ivery at the gate and she was detained. Officers informed her that Solomon had been arrested and when asked if she had packed her bag, Ivery replied, “I don’t have any drugs,” and “no,” before later nodding yes that she did pack her bag.
A second search warrant was obtained for Ivery’s bag, which was found to contain 25.9 pounds of cocaine.
Solomon and Ivery were charged with importing a controlled substance across state borders and aggravated controlled substance crime in the 1st degree. They face up to 40 years in prison and a minimum sentence of over seven years if convicted on both charges.
Both Solomon and Ivery are being held at the Hennepin County Jail. Initial court appearances are scheduled for this afternoon. Bail is currently set at $1.5 million each.
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