California gangster who hid $700K in drugs in luggage at Charlotte’s airport sentenced
We can’t get a Pepsi through security. Still, a California gangster had the gumption to think he could sneak up to $700,000 in methamphetamine through Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Federal investigators found the drug in the luggage of 47-year-old Rashad Jamal Blanchard and arrested him after his flight from Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2023.
In a federal courtroom in Charlotte Friday, Blanchard was sentenced to 20 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Dena King said.
Blanchard was already on the radar of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations when agents found the drug in his luggage, according to court documents. He was a known member of the Inglewood Family Gangster Bloods, prosecutors said.
HSI’s Queen City Regional Border Security Task Force searched Blanchard’s four checked suitcases and found 46 kilograms of methamphetamine, court records show.
A kilogram of meth sells for $6,500 to $15,000, depending on purity, location and availability, according to Recovered.org, which helps people find resources to treat addictions.
In three of the suitcases, agents found a total of 34.6 kilograms of meth wrapped in comforters in multiple black vacuum-sealed packages, court records show.
Someone picked up Blanchard’s fourth suitcase from the airport’s baggage claim area and drove away with it, according to court documents. Investigators tracked down the vehicle and recovered the suitcase, which hid 11.4 kilograms of meth, prosecutors said.
Blanchard also was sentenced to five years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.
According to court documents, Blanchard’s extensive criminal record stretches across North Carolina, California, Florida and Virginia. He was previously convicted of felony carjacking and bank robbery, records show.
When he was arrested in the airport drug-smuggling case, Blanchard was on probation for the bank robbery conviction, King said.
He also was free on bond at the time awaiting prosecution in California on charges of possessing nearly four pounds of meth and shooting at someone during a dispute, King said.
Blanchard has been in federal custody since November 2023, when he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to court records.
Cardell Morant, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in the Carolinas, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings joined King in announcing Blanchard’s sentencing.
King thanked HSI, CMPD and the Queen City Regional Border Security Task Force for investigating the case.