A 22-year-old man who traveled from Guyana to New York on Friday was busted at the JFK Airport in Queens with 40 pounds of cocaine stashed in packages of frozen jumbo shrimp.
US Authorities have identified the man as Zacharie Scott. He has been described as a US resident who has been residing in Guyana.
The US Department of Justice in a statement explained that as part of the screening process to gain access to the country, Scott was chosen by officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for secondary screening.
The man identified two suitcases as belonging to him and upon examination of the two suitcases, multiple packages of frozen shrimp wrapped in sealed plastic were discovered.
Once the packages were cut open, officials said they found brick-shaped objects that contained a white, powdery substance, that later tested positive as cocaine.
In total, the cocaine weighed 40.59 pounds, the US officials said.
Scott was placed under arrest by the US Homeland Security, reportedly admitted that he knew it was wrong to smuggle the drugs into the U.S.
He explained that he was expecting to be paid between US$5000 and US$6000 for taking the cocaine to the US.
The accused appeared in the Brooklyn Federal Court on Saturday, and the Judge ordered that Scott be detained until a bail hearing on Tuesday.
If convicted, Scott could face up to 20 years in prison.
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