Lakisha Abney Sentenced in Cocaine Import Scheme

Lakisha Abney, 33, of Washington, D.C., is headed to federal prison for eight years and one month after being convicted in a brazen cocaine importation scheme that played out on a Caribbean cruise. U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp handed down the sentence following Abney’s July 20, 2016 guilty plea to conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. The case exposes a calculated operation that used commercial travel to slip more than six kilograms of cocaine past border security.

In May 2016, Abney and co-conspirators Shawnta Aiken, Ciera Bryant, and Shenique Milbourne boarded a cruise ship bound for Jamaica. Once on the island, Abney orchestrated a handoff with a local source who supplied the group with over six kilograms of cocaine, expertly concealed in bras and underwear. She personally paid for the narcotics, cementing her role as the operation’s manager before the women smuggled the drugs back onto the vessel hidden beneath their dresses.

The quartet stashed the cocaine inside their shared cabin for the remainder of the voyage, biding their time until the ship docked at Port Canaveral. Upon arrival, they walked into the customs screening area with the drugs still concealed on their bodies. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, acting on suspicion, conducted searches and quickly uncovered the hidden stash—snapping the smuggling attempt in its final act.

Abney wasn’t the only one to face justice. Shawnta Aiken, Ciera Bryant, and Shenique Milbourne all pleaded guilty to their roles. Aiken received two years in federal prison, Bryant was sentenced to one year and ten months, and Milbourne was hit with two years and six months behind bars. Their cooperation and lesser roles likely factored into the disparity between their sentences and Abney’s extended term.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations led the probe, unraveling the conspiracy through surveillance, travel records, and direct evidence seized at the port. The operation highlights how traffickers exploit leisure travel to move narcotics, banking on the low profile of female passengers to avoid suspicion. Abney’s leadership role sealed her steeper punishment.

Assistant United States Attorney Andrew C. Searle prosecuted the case, underscoring federal authorities’ relentless focus on transnational drug networks. With over six kilos of cocaine intercepted—worth hundreds of thousands on the street—the bust dealt a tangible blow to an operation that nearly slipped through undetected. Abney now has eight long years to reflect on the cost of playing boss in a failed smuggling run.