Guyanese man charged with importing US$10M cocaine into US
-had to be fished out of Boston Harbour after chase
Stabroek News
August 13, 2004
A Guyanese man indicted on charges of importing US$10M of cocaine into the US had unsuccessfully attempted to evade authorities by jumping into Boston Harbour, according to an Associated Press report (AP).
Wallstein Dwayne Allen, 32, and three others from Brooklyn, New York were indicted on Wednesday in Boston on charges of trying to smuggle cocaine by boat from Guyana. Other reports say that in a sting mounted by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department, an agent picked up the drugs and ferried them from off the Suriname Coast to Florida and then to Boston, Massachusetts. Charged along with Allen of 3020 Avenue D, Brooklyn are Michael E Green, 28, of 153 East 92 Street, Brooklyn, Andre Page, 27, of 1172 President Street, Brooklyn and Aquaya Stephanie Perry, 22, of 1361 East 99th Street, Brooklyn.
A PRNewswire report said that Allen is charged with conspiring with others to import cocaine into the US. Allen, Green and Page are charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and to possess with intent to distribute. The quartet is also charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
According to court documents, it is alleged that a cooperating witness was approached earlier this year about participating in a scheme to smuggle over 100 kilogrammes of cocaine from Guyana to Massachusetts. In March this year, Allen drove up from New York and met with an ICE agent and gave him US$15,000 to cover expenses for sailing to South America to pick up the drugs. On May 4, 2004, the ICE undercover agent was given 105 kilogrammes of cocaine on a boat in international waters off the coast of Suriname.
It was further alleged in the court documents that Allen is a supervisor of a thriving cocaine business in Brooklyn. On June 5, 2004, the four accused drove to Massachusetts in two vehicles.
They then met with the undercover agent at the Prudential Center in Boston and then followed him to a warehouse in East Boston. There, it is alleged that Allen handed over US$200,000 for the cocaine to the undercover agent. It is alleged that Allen and Green then loaded the cocaine into one of their vehicles in preparation for driving it to New York.
At this stage, the AP report quoted an ICE special agent as saying that "as Allen attempted to elude the agents by running from the warehouse, he jumped or fell into Boston Harbor… He was ultimately apprehended by a United States Coast Guard patrol that had been in the area as backup".
Since the amount of cocaine involved is in excess of five kilogrammes, each of the drug charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison up to a maximum of life, to be followed by at least five years of supervised release and a fine of US$4M. The US government is also seeking the forfeiture of the US$215,000 passed over to the undercover agent by Allen and company.
In recent months there have been numerous busts in the US and other countries where the drugs either originated in Guyana or the persons involved are Guyanese.
While there have been investigations and charges abroad, very few persons have been investigated here or placed before the courts on charges.