AGENDA 21 RADIO

BY PAUL PRESTON

Red Smith reported in a two hour exclusive on Agenda 21 Radio that the boat “Lady Michelle” which is owned by Virgin Airlines Richard Bransan and was taken into custody by the United States Coast Guard February 16, 2017 had a cargo of almost 4.2 tonnes of cocaine. The seizure from the boat was said to be the largest cocaine haul in the Atlantic since 1999.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Thursday March 2, 2017 – Authorities are trying to get to the bottom of how a Vincentian-owned and registered boat was held in what has been described as the largest maritime seizure in 18 years.

In an operation on February 16, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) successfully stopped a transshipment of 185 bales of cocaine, weighing 4.2 tonnes, on board the Lady Michelle about 70 nautical miles off Paramaribo, Suriname in international waters.

The cocaine had a street value of over US$71.75 million.

According to Demerara Waves, DEA Special Agent Jeremy Latchman said the crew, which included four Guyanese, had initially claimed they had been searching for a missing vessel and that the Lady Michelle was registered in Guyana.

However, a check by the US law enforcers revealed that the boat was registered in St Vincent. They subsequently secured permission from Vincentian authorities to board the vessel in keeping with a bilateral agreement in the fight against drug trafficking.

“The vessel that was later identified as the Lady Michelle appeared to be dead in the water and was also in water too deep to conduct normal fishing operations. The vessel was also located in a known drug trafficking route,” the DEA agent related.

Authorities have since identified the crew members as Guyanese Mohamed Nazim Hoseain, 64; Richard La Cruz, 49; Neville Jeffrey, 68; and 30-year old Mark Anthony Williams.

According to Red Smith Mohamed Nazim Hoseain is a know member of the Muslim Brotherhood with terrorist links.

They were scheduled to attend a detention hearing in the United States Virgin Islands.

I Witness News reported today that the vessel has been returned to the owner in St Vincent, and the Financial Intelligence Union has opened investigations into the matter.

The DEA said cross-border collaboration had become vital to responding to the increase in cocaine flow from South America. The ongoing investigation into the shipment will now be led by the DEA, with support from the NCA.

The crew of the Lady Michelle, which is registered in the Caribbean nation of St Vincent and Grenadines, will face potential prosecution in the US Virgin Islands.