Carlos J. Lanns of Hamilton, N.J., a Dominican native, is being held on $300,000 cash bail — less than half the $750,000 bail that prosecutors requested — after pleading not guilty in East Boston District Court to trafficking in cocaine.

Customs agents found 2.17 kilograms of cocaine wrapped in plastic and hidden in the insoles of four pairs of shoes in Lanns’ checked baggage Monday after he arrived on JetBlue Flight 892 from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, said Assistant District Attorney Eric Bennett.

State police assigned to the Logan barracks arrested Lanns shortly after he disembarked about 6:10 p.m.

A spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said the arrest came after communications between state police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but he declined to reveal the detection techniques used in the case so as not to compromise ongoing interdiction efforts.

Defense attorney Erica Colombo said Lanns has no prior criminal record and that if released, Lanns intended to move to Massachusetts to answer the charges.

Judge Roberto Ronquillo Jr. ordered Lanns to surrender his passport after Bennett noted his ties to the Dominican Republic.

If convicted, Lanns could be cooling his heels for 15 to 20 years in prison. He is due back in court Oct. 5.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com