ST. THOMAS – A case not too long ago unsealed within the District Courtroom of the Virgin Islands reveals a person on trial for taking part in a conspiracy to site visitors cocaine from Tortola to the British Virgin Islands in St. Thomas.
In accordance with the regulation enforcement affidavit accompanying the prison grievance, in November 2021 an spy started having phone conversations with two folks, posing as a drug seller “concerned with shopping for multi-kilograms of cocaine “. One of many people, “Santiago”, lived in Tortola, instructed the spy that he would coordinate the take care of his pal, who lived in St. Thomas.
In a collection of telephone calls and WhatsApp messages, the scheme took form. The authorities say that Santiago, Rata and the encountered agent agreed to the acquisition of 10 kilograms of cocaine for $125,000, which represented a slight low cost off the worth of $13,000 per kilogram on St. Thomas.
The deal was scheduled to shut on December 2. A second spy met with Santiago and one other unnamed man twice on that date, however each occasions Santiago instructed the agent he didn’t really feel snug finishing the settlement at these areas. As an alternative, he drove to a home close to the crash websites, and received right into a black Jeep Laredo Sport. As soon as contained in the automobile, Santiago's video stated he known as the primary spy and confirmed a black bag with kilograms of cocaine inside. After the decision, Santiago, who was underneath surveillance all the time, was noticed leaving the black Jeep with out the bag.
Then the Jeep left the realm, adopted by surveillance models. Regulation enforcement officers carried out a site visitors cease. At first, the driving force — recognized as Santos Jiminez-Caraballo — tried to seize the bag as he received out of the automobile, however ultimately authorities say he gave up and fled on foot whereas regulation enforcement officers order they approached. Officers recovered the bag from the again seat of the Jeep. It contained 10 bricks of suspected cocaine, weighing 12.1 kilograms in whole. The automobile additionally yielded a Dominican Republic ID card with Mr. Jiminez-Caraballo's identify on it, in addition to an iPhone registered to a person with the identical identify.
In September 2022, Jiminez-Caraballo was traced to an handle in San Juan, with the black Jeep noticed to be parked outdoors the identical residence. A warrant was issued for his arrest on September 27 of that 12 months, but it surely wasn't till Might 22 that the suspect was lastly arrested.
https://viconsortium.com/vi-crime/virgin-islands-undercover-sting-unveils-cocaine-trafficking-plot-between-tortola-and-st–thomas