Mule cop! - St James constable says she was offered US$2,000 to carry drugs

Western Bureau:

Woman Constable Shermain Gooden, one of the three Jamaican police personnel arrested in a drug bust in the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last Thursday, has reportedly admitted her guilt and has told the US authorities that she was recruited by a colleague, who was subsequently arrested at another location.

Based on an affidavit presented to a US judge by an ICE agent, Gooden reportedly stated that her colleague, Constable Dremar Graham, who was later arrested, was the mastermind behind the smuggling operation, which also resulted in the arrest of Constable Travonne Davidson. She said she was offered US$2,000 to transport the cocaine she was held with.

“Gooden stated that Dremar Graham had asked her to carry the purses and a binder … . Graham arrived at her apartment complex and gave Gooden the items to transport with her on (her) flight. Graham instructed Gooden to wipe the purses down with vinegar,” the affidavit stated.

The affidavit further stated that Gooden claimed that Graham had tried to recruit her on other occasions, but she had turned him down. However, she stated that, this time around, she was in need of the money.

“Graham had previously asked her to carry purses, but she had declined. Gooden agreed this time because she needed the money. Gooden was going to be paid (US)$2,000 after she met with a person at the hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,” the document stated.

According to the US authorities, Gooden and Davidson travelled from Montego Bay in Jamaica on Delta flight 778, which landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Clayton County, in the Northern District of Georgia, where they were scheduled to connect to Delta 1022 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Purses and binders

During a search of Gooden and Davidson’s luggage, the agents said they found purses and binders with a white powdery substance, which field tests identified as cocaine. Gooden had three purses and one binder with cocaine amounting to 1.44 kilograms; while the binder tied to Davidson had 896.9 grams of the drug.

Gooden and Davidson were both arrested and charged for “knowingly possessing with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine, a schedule II controlled substance, and knowingly import or bring into the United States merchandise contrary to US law”.

The affidavit stated that Gooden waived her Miranda rights and provided text message and other incriminating information which tied Graham to the scheme. Graham was subsequently held in Atlanta, while he was in the process of boarding a flight back to Jamaica with his wife, who is also a police officer based in St James.

Unlike Gooden, Davidson invoked his Miranda rights, which, under US laws, protect him against self-incrimination, and gave no statements.

It would appear, according to the affidavit, that Gooden provided the ICE agent with WhatsApp messages, texts, and phone messages, which implicated Graham. In one exchange, Graham told Gooden, “We don’t talk about that on the phone”, suggesting that specific information was being kept secret.

The affidavit also revealed that “this unit reviews risk factors and associations of travellers that are travelling internationally, in order to focus enforcement efforts.” Specifically, law enforcement database checks revealed that travel history for Gooden and Davidson showed patterns that are consistent with previous smuggling trends.