GEORGETOWN: Indicted Guyanese pilot Khamraj Lall who has pleaded guilty to bulk cash smuggling on the island of Puerto Rico has now been charged with drug trafficking, according to a Rochester, New York publication, the Democrat and Chronicle.
It reported that US Federal authorities announced today they have indicted the New Jersey, US man for his participation in a Rochester-based drug trafficking operation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who is handling the case, said that according to the indictment, between December 2013 and February 10, 2015, the defendant conspired to bring more than five kilograms of cocaine from Guyana into the United States.
Lall is a pilot and the report said that he is accused of transporting the cocaine on his flights from Guyana to the United States.
He was arrested and made an initial appearance in federal court in the District of New Jersey. He is being held until he can make an appearance in federal court here in the Western District of New York.
According to the US Attorney’s office, Lall’s arrest is connected to the arrest of nine other defendants in February 2015. Edward Mighty, Seymour Brown, Andre Taylor, Ricardo Bailey, Robert Wilson, Kenneth Harper, Desmond Bice, and Christopher, all of Rochester, NY, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and use of a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking. Some of the co-defendants also face weapons charges. Winifredo Gonzales, a Brooklyn resident, was also arrested in February.
According to the complaint, Edward Mighty is one of the leaders of a Rochester-based drug trafficking organization that would obtain kilogram quantities of cocaine from Gonzales.
The Democrat and Chronicle said that the cocaine was transported to Rochester and processed, re-packaged, and distributed in various quantities of both powder and crack cocaine through multiple sellers in the Rochester area.
Searches of Lall’s private aircraft during a refuelling stop at the Luis Munoz International Airport, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 22 last year, uncovered US$620,000 stashed on board. Lall was travelling to Guyana at the time.
Lall, authorities had said, accepted responsibility and ownership for the money and informed that his co-pilot and his father, who were travelling with him at the time, had nothing to do with the cash.
According to the grand jury indictment, Lall, with the intent to evade a currency reporting requirement, knowingly concealed more than US$10,000 and transported and transferred and attempted to transport and transfer such currency and monetary instruments from Puerto Rico to Guyana, in violation of United States Code 5332(a) (1) and (2).
In addition to bulk cash smuggling indictment, Lall is also the subject of a forfeiture action brought by the US government for a total of US$442,743 held in 14 accounts controlled by him, his wife Nadinee, his mother or connected businesses.
Lall had a private hangar at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri and he had also used his jet to fly former PPP/C President Donald Ramotar to Brazil on an official trip. Following his arrest in Puerto Rico, the PPP/C government had been strongly criticised for its connections to Lall and over his being given a private hangar.
