A Guyanese man who has been living in the United States illegally for over two decades has been busted for drug trafficking and money laundering in a massive undercover operation by US Drug Enforcement Agents that spanned 10 years.

Court documents revealed that Guyanese national Loris Gemon “conspired to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and launder proceeds of the drug trafficking,” according to a 23-page criminal complaint filed by a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security.

According to the court documents obtained by News Source, Loris Gemon  who is also known as “Buck”, Martin Gregory, Junior Bristol and Chris Lashawn appeared on the radar of drug enforcement agents in 2004 when the US law enforcement agencies began receiving reports that he was involved in cocaine trafficking and money laundering.

The court documents stated that “the ensuing investigation of Gemon demonstrated that he was receiving cocaine from Miami, Florida and the Southwest border area of Texas, and was supplying cocaine in the Charlotte, North Carolina, and Pittsburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania areas”.

In the complaint, the US Agents referred to information being provided by four confidential informants and the information received has been corroborated “to the extent possible, and nothing has been found to be untruthful”.

In 2004, according to the court documents, Confidential Informant 1, provided information to law enforcement regarding Gemon’s cocaine trafficking activities. The law enforcement agencies were told of an occasion when Gemon was beaten and robbed of his money and drugs.

In 2007, another informant told investigators that Gemon was using an individual named Ian Nichols to deliver cocaine and pick up money for him. Gemon also used another individual named Roderick Brown to conduct cocaine deliveries and and money pick ups on his behalf.

The third confidential informant came to light in the summer of 2012 when law enforcement executed a search warrant at an address in North Carolina and they seized five kilograms of cocaine and $15,000 in US currency. Two persons were arrested and one of them confirmed to law enforcement that the cocaine he had in his possession was bought from Gemon. He confirmed Gemon’s identity after being shown a photograph of the man.

The third informant would later reveal to law enforcement that he first met Gemon in 1993 through his niece, who has a child for Gemon and was his girlfriend. According to the court documents, when the two men first met in 1993, Gemon was an “ounce quantity cocaine trafficker”, but within a few years, Gemon was selling larger quantities of cocaine. The #3 Confidential Informant told investigators that he has received more than 20 kilograms of cocaine from Gemon in the past few years.

The fourth confidential informant told investigators that besides being a cocaine dealer, he is also an auto dealer and just after meeting Gemon, he received more than 20 kilograms of cocaine from him over a six month period. The first time he bought 1 kilogram of cocaine from Gemon, he told investigators that he paid US$33,000 but Gemon would later tell him that he was buying it for US$27,000 per kilogram.

The court documents also tell the story of Gemon purchasing several expensive cars and approaching businesses in the area to launder money for him. Some of the confidential informants would later be outfitted with recording devices and would record several telephone and in person conversations with Gemon about his drug trafficking operations and the many businesses he used including a barber shop, to cover his operations and growing wealth.

During a number of the recorded conversations, Gemon could be heard talking about other persons who were arrested in the area for drug trafficking and whether those persons would be sharing information with law enforcement.

In April, 2013, U.S agents investigating Gemon carried out a trash pull at the home of the man who Gemon would use to pick up his cocaine and money. During the examination of the garbage found, investigators found rubber gloves which would later be tested and those tests found positive traces of cocaine hydrochloride.

In July 2013, the investigators shifted their attention to the Miami, Florida area and began probing a man by the name of “Junior” who was described as a black male national of Guyana, who lived in North Carolina but also had a place at the Trump Towers in Florida.

The information provided also revealed that “Junior” had a vessel at the HI-Lift marina in Florida. “Junior” would later be identified as the same Loris Gemon and the authorities received information that he was in the Florida area to secure a cocaine source.

Law enforcement officers observed a meeting between Gemon and a known drug trafficker in the area. Just after Gemon left that meeting, he was stopped by a law enforcement officer and he provided his name to that officer as Gregory Anthony Martin and also provided a Canadian Social Security Card. Martin was later confirmed as the same Loris Gemon who was under the radar of the drug enforcement agencies. He was also linked to a vessel that was docked at the Hi-Lift marina.

The investigators would continue to monitor Gemon’s movements and his continuing efforts to locate a cocaine source in the area.

In April 2014, Gemon met with an undercover law enforcement officer and boasted to the officer that he owned several properties in the North Carolina and California areas. “He stated that he wanted to purchase a quantity of cocaine from the undercover officer”, court documents revealed.

On May 7, 2014, Gemon met again with the undercover officer in the Miami, Florida area and this time he told the undercover officer that he owned several businesses in the North Carolina area and those businesses included a tow truck service, a barbershop, a rim shop, and a car wash.

According to the documents, “Gemon also told the undercover officer that he would soon be opening a recording studio”. The court documents revealed that “Gemon also told the undercover officer that he had been trafficking drugs for 24 years and that he had never been caught”. The documents said he stated that one reason he had never been caught was because he wasn’t greedy. He also told the undercover officer that he owned 27 vehicles.

Gemon and the undercover officer came to an initial agreement that Gemon would be supplied with 15 kilograms of cocaine at a price of US$26,000 per kilogram.

The complaint said “Gemon was told that he would receive an additional discount because he was purchasing more than 10 kilograms of cocaine. Gemon told the undercover officer that he wanted 30 kilograms delivered instead of 15 because he would be able to get rid of the cocaine within two to three days and would immediately purchase the additional 15 kilograms”.

Gemon also told the undercover officer that he had US$400,000 to conduct the transaction. During his conversation with the undercover officer, he also revealed that he had a Cuban source and a Mexican source that provided  him with cocaine from the area but their supplies were limited.  Gemon was told by the undercover officer that he should be ready for when the shipment arrived and he indicated that he was ready.

Loris Gemon was arrested in May, 2014 and the charges were filed against him.

Media reports out of North Carolina stated that they “obtained federal records detailing an extensive pipeline of cocaine funneling into Charlotte from across the world. Federal agents said an undocumented immigrant was at the top of the crime ring using drug money to buy a fleet of exotic cars and a big house. They said he set up businesses across the city and used them to grow his criminal empire. Federal agents and police raided those businesses Wednesday. Gemon is believed to have several relatives who still live in Guyana including a close family member who is said to be a local female attorney.

A number of the court documents pertaining to his case have been sealed. His girlfriend Twanda Pierce is also facing conspiracy charges.

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