Thread: Honduran vessel used to smuggle cocaine into U.S.

Federal court digest: Men are accused of cocaine smuggling
Monday, April 14, 2008
By BRENDAN KIRBY
Staff Reporter

A federal magistrate judge in Mobile last week jailed a crew member on a Honduran cargo ship where immigration agents found 6 kilograms of cocaine earlier this month.

Byron Alexander Meza Campbell waived his right to a detention hearing and will remain jailed until a federal grand jury in Mobile considers whether to issue a formal indictment. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Cassady scheduled a detention hearing for Tuesday for a second man implicated in the alleged scheme, Wilmer Alonzo Stanley Hinds.

According to affidavits filed in U.S. District Court by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Campbell was a crew member on a cargo ship called the Cortes I. He is charged with hiding the cocaine in the vessel.

Acting on a tip, immigration agents found the drugs after searching the ship April 2 as it was docked at Steiner Shipyard in Bayou La Batre. The ship left Honduras on March 28.

Federal law enforcement authorities said smuggling on board ships has become far less common in recent years, as drug producers have turned more to land routes from Mexico to get their product to the U.S. market.

"Back when I first came to customs, it was common to have two to three busts a week," said Mickey Pledger, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement group leader of the Mobile office.

Court affidavits allege that Hinds, a Honduran man who was living legally in Pensacola, drove to Bayou La Batre on April 1 with the intention of buying the cocaine from Campbell.

Hinds' attorney, Dom Soto, said his client went to the ship with a toy Jeep to give to ship personnel to take back to a relative in Honduras. He said Hondurans in the area regularly use the ship to get items back to loved ones at home.

The affidavits state that Hinds and a man who worked for his yacht painting business, Andres Valladares-Avilez, drove in separate cars to Mobile County and met with Campbell at a gas station the day before the raid.

Authorities charged Valladares-Avilez with immigration violations. Assistant Federal Defender Fred Tiemann said his client admits that he walked across the border near El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 22, 2005. He said Valladares-Avilez plans to plead guilty.

That's part of Bush's Free-Trade deal most likely..