Caribbean trafficking: Leader of criminal organization sentenced to nearly 5 years for firearms smuggling conspiracy

TAMPA, Fla. - A joint Homeland Security Investigations Tampa investigation led to a nearly five-year prison sentence for the leader of a transnational criminal organization for conspiracy to smuggle firearms from the United States to Trinidad and Tobago.

A federal court sentenced Shem Wayne Alexander, 36, of Port of Spain, Trinidad, to four years and nine months in prison and ordered him to forfeit firearms seized during the offense after previously pleading guilty. He was extradited from Jamaica to the United States for prosecution.

"Homeland Security Investigations works diligently to dismantle transnational criminal organizations such as these, which engage in firearms smuggling. It is more than just a matter of enforcing laws - it is a commitment to safeguarding communities both at home and abroad," said HSI Tampa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kristopher Pagitt. "This successful investigation and prosecution demonstrate the critical role law enforcement collaboration plays to disrupt the networks that fuel violence and instability in the Caribbean and around the world. Removing these weapons from the hands of dangerous criminals protects public safety and upholds the integrity of our borders."

According to the plea agreement and court records, between April 2019 and April 2022, Alexander and his co-conspirators unlawfully exported more than 200 firearms, firearms components (including upper and lower receivers and gun parts kits), and related items from Florida to Trinidad and Tobago.

On April 21, 2021, members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and Customs and Excise Division at the Piarco International Airport in Port of Spain seized a shipment containing two punching bags.

Alexander and his co-conspirators had sent the shipment from the United States to Trinidad and Tobago describing the contents of said shipment as "household items." In reality, concealed within the two punching bags were approximately:

• 11 9 mm pistols
• Two .38-caliber special revolvers
• A 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun
• Three AR-15 barrel foregrips
• 19 lower pistol grip assemblies
• 11 forearm bolt assemblies
• Three AR-15-style barrels with forearm grips
• 32 AR-15 magazines
• One AR-15 drum magazine
• 470 rounds of AR-15 ammunition
• 34 9 mm magazines
• Three 9 mm drum magazines
• 284 9 mm rounds
• 15 .38 caliber rounds
• 36 shells
• Six magazine couplers
• Two shotgun chokes.

Alexander and his co-conspirators arranged the shipment without notifying the shipper in writing about the shipment's contents.

The case was investigated by HSI Tampa, including HSI's Attaché Caribbean, and the ATF with assistance from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service's Transnational Organized Crime Unit and Special Investigations Unit, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement. The Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs, the Jamaica Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Jamaica Constabulary Force provided critical support in Alexander's extradition.

Learn more about this case here.

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