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PA TEXAS MAN SENTENCED FOR SMUGGLING CFCS

Release Date: 1/3/97
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PA TEXAS MAN SENTENCED FOR SMUGGLING CFCS

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1997

TEXAS MAN SENTENCED FOR SMUGGLING CFCs

On Dec. 18, 1996, Cesar Reyes of Houston, Texas, was sentenced to six months incarceration, which can be waived if he first successfully completes one year of probation, and a $1,000 fine for illegally importing 60-pounds of CFC-12 into the United States from Mexico in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. CFC-12 is commonly known by the trade name "freon," and is used in the air conditioners of automobiles manufactured before 1994. Reyes was arrested when he tried to transport the freon aboard a Greyhound bus. A one-pound can of CFC-12 can be purchased in Mexico for $1.50 and resold to customers in the United States for as much as $18, making smuggling very profitable. The importation and manufacture of  CFC-12 was banned in the United States on Jan. 1, 1996 because it depletes the ozone layer in the earth's stratosphere.

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