California gangster who hid $700,000 worth of drugs in luggage at Charlotte airport sentenced

We can’t get a Pepsi through security. Yet a California mobster had the audacity to think he could sneak up to $700,000 worth of 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 he fled Los Angeles on February 1, 2023.

In a federal courtroom in Charlotte Friday, Blanchard was convicted up to 20 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Dena King said.

Blanchard was already on the radar of US homeland security investigations when officers found the drug in his luggage, court documents show. 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 pounds of methamphetamine, court records show.

A kilo 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 pounds of meth, wrapped in comforters in multiple black, vacuum-sealed packages, court records show.

According to court documents, someone picked up Blanchard’s fourth suitcase from the airport baggage claim area and drove away with it. Investigators tracked down the vehicle and recovered the suitcase, which contained 11.4 pounds of meth, prosecutors said.

Blanchard was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence.

According to court documents, Blanchard’s extensive criminal record spans North Carolina, California, Florida and Virginia. He was previously convicted of 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 was also out on bail at the time awaiting prosecution in California on charges of possessing nearly four pounds of meth and shooting 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, court records show.

Cardell Morant, special agent in charge of the homeland security investigation 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.