Five people were sentenced last week for smuggling cocaine through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Walter Lee Parker, 21, of Cincinnati; Paul Victor Wilson, 47, of Weston, Florida; Roelisha Housley, 21, of Fairfield, Ohio; Janai Cavitt, 21, of Covington, Kentucky; and Kaprice Green, 19, of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
On Feb. 10, airport officials stopped Cavitt and Green after they got off their flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and found three kilograms of cocaine hidden in the lining of their suitcases, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Georgia.
“As the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta is a prime target for drug traffickers who think they can hide in plain sight by blending in with other travelers,” ICE Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta Special Agent Nick S. Annan said in the release.
Officials questioned the women and discovered they were planning to deliver the cocaine to Housley and Parker in Cincinnati for $10,000. The two planned to further distribute the cocaine.
Authorities were eventually led to Wilson after he sent threatening texts to a sister of one of the smugglers demanding the cocaine back.
Wilson, who also goes by “Ivory Robinson,” was identified as the leader of the drug conspiracy. Authorities said he worked with a Jamaican-based drug supplier and was the owner of the cocaine. He was sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison with five years of supervised release, according to the release.
Other sentences: Parker (eight years and one month in prison with four years of supervised release); Housley (five years and eight months in prison with four years of supervised release); and Cavitt and Green (three years and four months in prison with three years of supervised release).
“Federal agents working with customs officers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport permanently ended this drug smuggling ring,” Northern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney John Horn said. “Drug smugglers continually seek new ways to move their narcotics. We hope that this case shows that the airport is a poor choice for shipping illegal drugs.”
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