Miami, Florida – A police officer from Jamaica has pled guilty in federal district court in Fort Lauderdale to importing cocaine into the United States.
As part of her guilty plea, 42-year-old Shelian Cherine Allen, a Jamaican citizen, admitted the following: On February 3, Allen arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica. An inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that Allen had a package of cocaine inside her vagina and a package of cocaine inside each of her bra cups. Allen also had 90 pellets of packaged cocaine inside her stomach, which she had swallowed. CBP officers took Allen to a local hospital, where she expelled the 90 pellets. In total, Allen had over 1,000 grams of cocaine on or inside her body when she entered the United States: about 200 in her vagina, about 143 grams in her bra, and about 690 grams inside her stomach.
At the time of her arrest, Allen was a law enforcement officer employed by the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
United States District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II will sentence Allen on June 15, at 1:30p.m., in federal district court in Fort Lauderdale. Allen faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
HSI Miami investigated the case. CBP assisted in the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley is prosecuting it.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-60024.
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