St. Croix, USVI – In a shocking turn of events, Wayne Jeffers, 52, a Virgin Islands Port Authority Officer stationed at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix, and Charles Rawlins, III, 39, an airport ramp worker, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Cocaine and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Cocaine.
According to court documents, on May 11, 2022, Jeffers placed a black suitcase containing 12 bricks of cocaine inside a ladder truck that was parked on the ramp of the airport. Later that morning, Rawlins removed the suitcase from the ladder truck and placed it on a baggage cart to be loaded on a Seaborne Silver aircraft destined for San Juan, PR. The luggage containing the cocaine was later seized by Customs and Border Protection Officers.
A drug analysis conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Southeast Laboratory in Miami, FL, confirmed that the seized substance was cocaine with a net weight of 12.01 kilograms. This staggering amount of cocaine is a clear indication of the severity of the crime.
Jeffers and Rawlins each face a mandatory minimum term of 10 years imprisonment on their conviction. A federal district court judge will determine the appropriate sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Agency investigated this case, with Assistant United States Attorney Daniel H. Huston prosecuting the defendants. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. The OCDETF Program is a key component in the fight against organized crime and narcotics trafficking.
Jeffers and Rawlins’ guilty pleas mark a significant victory for law enforcement in the USVI. The community can rest a little easier knowing that these individuals will be held accountable for their crimes.
Key Facts
- State: Virgin Islands
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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