US airport worker smuggled drugs to Bermuda for 12 years, court told
A Philadelphia baggage handler caught putting cannabis on a Bermuda-bound plane admitted he'd been smuggling drugs to the Island for 12 years, a jury heard.Brian Wade said he'd sent narcotics on planes twice per week, and baggage handlers on the Island were involved in taking them off again.The details emerged yesterday from US Homeland Security Agent William Farley who testified in the Supreme Court case code-named Operation Sky High.Two Bermudians — Lorenzo Lottimore and Craig Hatherley — are on trial accused of plotting to import $1 million of heroin.Mr Farley told the trial on Friday how Wade sparked a major security alert at Philadelphia Airport when fellow baggage handlers spotted him loading and offloading bags from the US Airways flight to Bermuda on October 7 2010.Law enforcement agents tracked down Wade, from Middletown, Delaware, as the rogue handler and found a package of cannabis on the plane. He was arrested and ended up helping with an undercover investigation.According to Mr Farley, he met with Wade 30-50 times and taped dozens of phone calls Wade made to contacts in Bermuda.According to prosecutors, Mr Lottimore, 33, from Warwick, and Mr Hatherley, 27, from Paget, were recorded on those calls, plotting to import heroin to Bermuda.Mr Lottimore's lawyer, Victoria Pearman, questioned Mr Farley yesterday over Wade’s admissions during the investigation."He said he had been involved in placing drugs on airplanes for ten years?" she suggested."Correct — ten to 12 years was his approximation," replied Mr Farley.Wade estimated he had been putting the drugs onto planes approximately twice a week, according to the special agent.Payment methods involved the use of Western Union, FedEx and placing cash on planes and Wade told investigators he was paid $400 per pound of cannabis.Ms Pearman read a list of names Wade gave during the investigation including "Dave," who he believed worked at Bermuda's airport, and "had something to do with baggage".According to Mr Farley, Wade indicated a Bermuda baggage handler was involved in collecting the drugs off the planes.The name David Carroll came up during the investigation as someone who sent payments to Wade.Prosecutor Garrett Byrne told the jury in his opening speech that Carroll — who is not on trial — worked at Bermuda's LF Wade airport and took the drugs off the planes or got his associates to do it.Special Agent Farley explained that Wade was charged in the US with possessing the cannabis found on the plane with intent to distribute it. He has pleaded guilty and is on bail, awaiting sentencing.According to prosecutors, Mr Hatherley flew to New York on April 18, 2011. Four days later, he handed almost $1 million worth of heroin and $2,000 cash to one of Wade's "associates" in Manhattan. The associate was actually an undercover special agent, Gordon Patten of the Drug Enforcement Administration, who met him in a car kitted out with recording equipment.Mr Farley played the jury videotapes yesterday, which show the alleged handover in Manhattan [see sidebar].According to Mr Byrne's opening speech, US investigators replaced the drugs with a dummy package of flour which was sent to Bermuda in the cargo hold of a US Airways flight in June 2011. It was allegedly collected by a man named Loren Marshall, who handed it over to Carroll at a meeting at Burchall's Cove in Hamilton Parish, which Lorenzo Lottimore also attended.Police watched the meeting and arrested Mr Lottimore and Carroll. According to the prosecutor, both tried to flee. Carroll dropped two packages containing $10,000 in cash as he did so.Mr Lottimore had four cell phones with him, including the one allegedly used to make arrangements with Wade. When his home was searched, police found the receipt for a Western Union payment to Wade. Mr Hatherley was arrested the following day.Mr Hatherley and Mr Lottimore deny conspiring with Carroll and others not before the court to import heroin to Bermuda, and the case continues
An undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent told Supreme Court how a Bermudian allegedly handed him almost $1 million worth of heroin on the streets of Manhattan.Gordon Patten said of defendant Craig Hatherley’s demeanour during the 1.11pm meeting in a car on 33rd Street: "He was calm and didn't speak much."According to prosecutors, Mr Hatherley was part of a plot to import the heroin into Bermuda, and arranged to hand it over to a man who he believed to be a co-conspirator in New York.Unbeknown to him, US law enforcement officers had busted the plot, and sent in undercover agent Gordon Patten to pose as the accomplice instead [see main story].Mr Patten drove a black Lexus car kitted out with surveillance equipment to the meeting point near the Pennsylvania Hotel on Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street.He played the videotape of what happened next yesterday to a jury at Supreme Court, where Mr Hatherley is on trial along with Lorenzo Lottimore, accused of conspiring to import heroin.After Mr Hatherley jumps into the car, the agent can be heard on the tape asking if he's brought money with him.Mr Hatherley replies "yeah," then asks the agent "how's it going?”"What's up man, you good man?" replies Mr Patten."Yo dawg," responds Mr Hatherley who goes on to inquire: "You ask D about the drop?"The agent replies that he has, and drives a block to 32nd Street where he parks up and the handover takes place.The jury has heard that Mr Hatherley gave Mr Patten two packages of heroin and around $2,000 in US dollars.Mr Hatherley can then be seen exiting the vehicle, before the agent tells his fellow investigators: “OK, it’s a wrap.”
