Mugshot of Kiani J. Smth. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS — A man who reportedly retrieved a suitcase filled with marijuana and cannabis gummies at the airport in St. Thomas is now facing felony charges.
On Monday afternoon, Customs and Border Protection officials summoned officers of the V.I. Police Department's Criminal Investigation Bureau to the Cyril E. King airport.
Responding officers were told that when CBP officers were conducting a routine luggage inspection along with their dogs, they came into contact with some luggage that was suspected to contain a controlled substance.
The CBP officials said a man, later identified as Kiani Jah Fari Smith, retrieved the blue and black luggage from the carousel, and subsequently left the baggage claim area. Smith was detained, and his luggage inspected. It was found to contain almost 17 pounds of a green leafy substance which tested positive for marijuana, as well as some gummies, all vacuum sealed in plastic.
Smith, who arrived on St. Thomas from Atlanta Georgia, was found to have checked the same large blue hard-sided suitcase in Atlanta as the one in which the contraband was found in St. Thomas. He was then arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Smith was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday June 21. No details arising from his advice of rights hearing had been made available on the court’s public platform at time of publication.
