Guyanese cash-jet pilot now charged with drug trafficking
- Thursday, 23 July 2015 13:48
- Written by Demerara Waves
(DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE).- Guyanese pilot Khamraj Lall, who was caught with more than US$600,000 aboard his private jet while on a technical stop in Puerto Rico in November 2014 has now been charged with cocaine trafficking.
Federal authorities announced on Thursday they have indicted a New Jersey man for his participation in a Rochester-based drug trafficking operation.
Khamraj Lall, a native of Guyana, is charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and importation of cocaine into the United States.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who is handling the case, said that according to the indictment, between December 2013 and February 10, 2015, the defendant conspired to bring more than five kilograms of cocaine from Guyana into the United States.
Lall is a pilot and is accused of transporting the cocaine on his flights from Guyana to the United States.
He was arrested on July 22, 2015 and made an initial appearance in federal court in the District of New Jersey. He is being held until he can make an appearance in federal court here in the Western District of New York.
According to the US Attorneyβs office, Lallβs arrest is connected to the arrest of nine other defendants in February 2015. Edward Mighty, Seymour Brown, Andre Taylor, Ricardo Bailey, Robert Wilson, Kenneth Harper, Desmond Bice, and Christopher, all of Rochester, NY, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and use of a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking. Some of the co-defendants also face weapons charges.
Winifredo Gonzales, a Brooklyn resident, was also arrested in February.
According to the complaint, Edward Mighty is one of the leaders of a Rochester-based drug trafficking organization that would obtain kilogram quantities of cocaine from Gonzales.
The cocaine was transported to Rochester and processed, re-packaged, and distributed in various quantities of both powder and crack cocaine through multiple sellers in the Rochester area.