T&T National Pleads Guilty In United States To Firearms Smuggling
A Trinidad and Tobago national pled guilty in the United States to conspiracy to smuggle firearms from the United States to Trinidad and Tobago. In a Media Release today (Friday 5th September, 2025), the United States Embassy in Port-of-Spain said Shem Wayne Alexander, 35, faces up to five (5) years in federal prison. Alexander, who is said to be an ex-T&T Sport Official, was arrested in Jamaica on 15th November, 2024, pursuant to a U.S. provisional arrest request, and was extradited to the United States on 20th December, 2024.
According to the U.S. Embassy, between April 2019 and April 2022, Alexander and his co-conspirators unlawfully exported firearms, firearms components, and ammunition from Florida to Trinidad and Tobago. On 21st April, 2021, Officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and Customs and Excise Division seized a shipment at the Piarco International Airport, containing two (2) punching bags. Concealed within the punching bags were multiple pistols, revolvers, a shotgun, AR-15 components, magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The U.S. Embassy added, “Playing key co-operating roles and critical to Alexander’s arrest and extradition were TTPS’s Transnational Organized Crime Unit and Special Investigations Unit, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Jamaica Ministry of National Security.”
U.S. Embassy Port-of-Spain Chargé d’Affaires Charlie J. Franta III said, “Illegal firearms trafficking fuels violence and undermines security across our region. The successful prosecution of this case is a direct result of the strong partnership between the U.S., Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaican law enforcement. Our nations remain committed to dismantling the transnational criminal networks that threaten the safety of our citizens.”
The Embassy notes that the case is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program, “which targets the most serious transnational criminal organizations.”
More on this as it becomes available.
[Source: U.S. Embassy T&T]
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