Federal court digest:
Men are accused of cocaine smuggling
Monday, April 14, 2008
By BRENDAN KIRBY
Staff Reporter
A federal magistrate judge in Mobile last week
jailed a crew member on a
Honduran cargo ship where immigration agents found 6 kilograms of cocaine
earlier this month.
Byron Alexander Meza Campbell waived his right to a
detention hearing and
will remain jailed until a federal grand jury in Mobile considers whether
to issue a formal indictment. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Cassady
scheduled a detention hearing for Tuesday for a second man implicated in
the alleged scheme, Wilmer Alonzo Stanley Hinds.
According to affidavits filed in U.S. District Court
by an Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agent, Campbell was a crew member on a cargo ship
called the Cortes I. He is charged with hiding the cocaine in the vessel.
Acting on a tip, immigration agents found the drugs after searching the
ship April 2 as it was docked at Steiner Shipyard in Bayou La Batre. The
ship left Honduras on March 28.
Federal law enforcement authorities said smuggling
on board ships has
become far less common in recent years, as drug producers have turned more
to land routes from Mexico to get their product to the U.S. market.
"Back when I first came to customs, it was common to have two to three
busts a week," said Mickey Pledger, the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement group leader of the Mobile office.
Court affidavits allege that Hinds, a Honduran man
who was living legally
in Pensacola, drove to Bayou La Batre on April 1 with the intention of
buying the cocaine from Campbell.
Hinds' attorney, Dom Soto, said his client went to
the ship with a toy
Jeep to give to ship personnel to take back to a relative in Honduras. He
said Hondurans in the area regularly use the ship to get items back to
loved ones at home.
The affidavits state that Hinds and a man who worked
for his yacht
painting business, Andres Valladares-Avilez, drove in separate cars to
Mobile County and met with Campbell at a gas station the day before the
raid.
Authorities charged Valladares-Avilez with
immigration violations.
Assistant Federal Defender Fred Tiemann said his client admits that he
walked across the border near El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 22, 2005. He said
Valladares-Avilez plans to plead guilty.