Two sentenced for importing 300 kilograms of cocaine into the US from the Bahamas
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| Published on Saturday, November 7, 2009 |
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WEST PALM BEACH, USA -- On Thursday, Mark Pinder, and Parson Exana, were sentenced to between 9 and 12 years in federal prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States from the Bahamas. The sentencings are the result of a multi-agency effort between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Jupiter Police Department, the Boca Raton Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
US District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks sentenced Mark Pinder, 41, a Bahamian citizen, to 144 months imprisonment and Parson Exana, 38, formerly residing in Miramar, Fla., to 108 months imprisonment on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the US.
On May 25, ICE special agents conducted an undercover enforcement operation on the high seas and received approximately 297 kilograms of cocaine from Pinder in a vessel-to-vessel transfer. The cocaine was subsequently transported to Palm Beach County. On May 26, law enforcement agents and officers conducted a controlled delivery of the 297 kilograms of cocaine to Pinder and Exana, in Jupiter, Fla. Pinder and Exana were arrested at that time.
The seizure and arrests were the result of a combined operation involving, ICE’s Office of Investigations in West Palm Beach, the FBI West Palm Beach Division, DEA Ft. Lauderdale, CBP’s Miami Air and Marine Branch, Jupiter Police Department, Boca Raton Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
The combined investigation targeted individuals who use maritime vessels to smuggle drugs into South Florida from the Bahamas. | | | | Reads : 557 | | | |
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