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Teshawn Adams
Documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Thursday revealed who federal investigators had only identified as Target 1 in the original charging document as St. Thomas Police Officer Teshawn Adams, the man said to be at the center of the drug trafficking effort that was disrupted Tuesday night in Florida at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. Adams was previously identified as Target 1 because he may have been under investigation.
He was the sixth person to be charged in the massive drug bust, which means former Port Authority Officer Jakelah Adolphine was not involved whatsoever in the investigation, which was also confirmed by the public information officer of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Southern Florida, Marlene Rodriquez. Rodriquez went on record stating Mr. Adolphine was not part of this investigation.
The charging document that revealed Adams to be Target 1, seen here, includes the same information revealed in Wednesday's complaint against the individuals involved. Teshawn Adams joins St. Thomas Police Officer Shakim Mike and suspects Maleek Leonard, Roystin David and Trevon Adams, who the complaint alleges "knowingly and willfully conspired to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine," revealed to be 328.79 kilograms. Also arrested was Anthon Berkeley.
Teshawn Adams was charged with cocaine trafficking for his major involvement in moving the cocaine whose street value is $33 million to $40 million. In the complaint, Teshawn is identified as the man who offered Police Officer Shakim Mike $60,000 to $70,000 for his role in the smuggling venture. Mike admitted that at least three of the seized bags belonged to him and that he helped pack the cocaine bricks in the bags. Soon after Mike absconded, he sent his location to Trevon Adams, who picked him up at a hotel and drove him to Orlando, where he was contacted by law enforcement and ultimately agreed to surrender, according to the complaint. Trevon is Teshawn's brother.
According to the complaint, text messages between Roystin David and Teshawn Adams included references to "moving product," "recruiting flight attendants," "investing all the money from our bricks," "meeting the big dogs in Santo Domingo," and "living off the airport trips." David also said that the last words he heard from Mike before Mike fled, were, "oh s***, I think we should run."
Velinor "Glad" Police Officers Got Caught
Mr. Velinor said pictures of the officers in question would be provided to the media. "We'll keep you updated on the progress of this case but again, it is an ongoing federal investigation and the Virgin Islands Police Department continues to stand at the ready to support our federal partners as they continue to investigate."
Asked whether he was concerned that the community's trust in the department would erode because of the arrests, the commissioner stressed that a plurality of officers are in policing because they truly want to serve their community. "Most of the men and women in law enforcement are doing it for the right reasons," he said. "Occasionally you come across those individuals who have their own specific motivation and engage in illegal activity.
"I have said to our community that not everyone should be in policing, and where there are individuals who are demonstrating behaviors that's not consistent with our oath to protect and serve our community, I support us fully prosecuting them and also terminating their privilege to serve our community in this capacity," Mr. Velinor said.
The commissioner said the incident is not a reflection of the V.I.P.D., but instead "a reflection of two individuals who are part of the Virgin Islands Police Department who obviously engaged in criminal activity. I am glad that they were arrested. Any individual involved in criminal activity, whether you're in policing or not, you should be prosecuted. In this case I can say that it's good when an officer who is involved in unlawful activity is in fact brought to the appearance of everyone, and is in fact prosecuted based on an investigation."
He added, "I say that to say I wish no officer would engage in illegal activity, but where an officer chooses to engage in illegal activity, they should be prosecuted, and I, Trevor Velinor, is in support of the full gamut of the law in prosecuting individuals who are engaged in illegal activities."
