Four Guyanese, including a husband and wife, were recently held at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, after attempting to smuggle cocaine in pellets that they ingested and two of them have admitted that they were to be paid US$6,000 for couriering the drugs.
The arrests brought the number of Guyanese who attempted to smuggle cocaine into the US via the New York airport to five for the month of September.
Kurt and Maria Bruney arrived at the airport on September 23rd and a search conducted of their bags was negative. But during the search of his bags, Kurt Bruney, according to Jeremy Barrett, Special Agent with the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, exhibited signs of nervousness, “including that he was avoiding eye contact, his hands and legs were shaking and his carotid artery was pulsating and he was sweating profusely.”
Barrett, in court documents seen by Stabroek News, said it was at this point that Kurt Bruney was informed that his wife, who was also being searched by another officer, admitted that they had both swallowed cocaine-filled pellets. Confronted with this information, Kurt Bruney admitted same and later passed out 34 pellets. He later stated that he had ingested some 220 pellets. He passed out 218, which had a weight of 1,661.6 grammes.
His wife passed out 76 but it was believed there were more and she was kept under observation, the court documents said. The husband said he was promised US$6,000 for successfully transporting the drugs.
They both appeared in court and were remanded to custody.
Barrett also swore to the information that implicated Odessa Edmondson, who was arrested one day before the couple.
According to court documents seen by this newspaper, Edmondson travelled to the US on September 22nd in the company of her one year-old daughter. She claimed that the two were returning to the US after spending one month in Guyana.
However, after a search of her baggage was conducted, it was determined that it did not have sufficient items to sustain herself and daughter. “Edmondson exhibited signs of nervousness, including the fact that she was sweating, her carotid artery was pulsating, and she was looking for an exit door. After being questioned regarding various inconsistences in her statements, the defendant admitted to ingesting narcotics,” Barrett said in his sworn deposition.
Edmondson then asked to use to restroom, where she passed out 49 pellets. One was probed and it revealed a white, powdery substance that field tested positive for cocaine. The woman was then arrested and she passed out a total of 194 pellets, with the total gross weight of these being 1,608.5 grammes.
Like Kurt Bruney, Edmondson said she was promised US$6,000 for successfully transporting the drugs.
The woman appeared before Magistrate Judge Steven Tiscione on September 27th and was placed on bond after three sureties were sworn to.
Meanwhile, on September 20th, another Guyanese, Luke Kendall, arrived on Caribbean Airlines flight BW 526 and while he initially told officers at the airport that he was in the US to attend a wedding, he later changed his story and said he was there to purchase clothes for his mother’s store in Guyana.
According to Homeland officer Michael Yun, Kendall also provided names and numbers for individuals in the US who could corroborate his story but when these persons were contacted they informed that while they knew Kendall, they were unaware he was in the US.
He was then presented with an x-tray consent form and it was then that he confessed that he had ingested pellets filled with cocaine. He passed out 127 pellets, which were filled with a substance, which was found to be cocaine.
He also appeared before Magistrate Judge Tiscione and he was remanded to custody.
On September 11th, another Guyanese was busted with cocaine pellets in her pelvic area. According to court documents that were seen by Stabroek News, Alicia Coppin also swallowed pellets, some which she excreted while in the custody of United States Homeland Security authorities.
