It Was ‘Incredibly Easy’ for Customs Officer to Fly Cocaine ‘Bricks’ to GA, Feds Say
FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, JUL 8 – Ivan Van Beverhoudt used his CBP position to smuggle 16 bricks of cocaine valued at $1.25 million, receiving a 20-year federal prison sentence for drug trafficking offenses.
- Ivan Van Beverhoudt, who previously worked for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, received a 20-year prison sentence on July 8, 2025, in Atlanta after being convicted of smuggling cocaine.
- On January 10, 2020, Van Beverhoudt was taken into custody at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after a drug-sniffing dog signaled on his carry-on luggage, which contained 16 packages of cocaine, following his arrival from a flight originating in St. Thomas.
- He bypassed TSA security by traveling in his official capacity with a loaded CBP firearm, and investigations revealed he regularly smuggled narcotics to Baltimore, abusing his position.
- U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg condemned Van Beverhoudt for violating the trust placed in him as a law enforcement officer by engaging in the very illegal activity he was supposed to stop, underscoring that officers who misuse their authority will face strict consequences.
- The conviction and sentence demonstrate federal commitment to prosecuting officers who misuse authority to traffic drugs, with Van Beverhoudt receiving 20 years imprisonment plus five years supervised release.
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It was ‘incredibly easy’ for customs officer to fly cocaine ‘bricks’ to GA, feds say
It was ‘incredibly easy’ for customs officer to fly cocaine ‘bricks’ to US_ feds say
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer convicted of smuggling 16 “bricks” of cocaine inside his carry-on bags has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. Ivan Van Beverhoudt was traveling in his official capacity when he boarded an Atlanta-bound flight in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands with cocaine stashed inside a red roller bag and black handbag in January 2020, according to federal court filings, Mc…
'Incredibly easy’ for customs officer to fly cocaine ‘bricks’ to US, feds say
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer convicted of smuggling 16 “bricks” of cocaine inside his carry-on bags has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.


It was ‘incredibly easy’ for customs officer to fly cocaine ‘bricks’ to US, feds say
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer convicted of smuggling 16 “bricks” of cocaine inside his carry-on bags has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
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