CHRISTIANSTED — A New Jersey woman was arrested for trying to smuggle 26 pounds of marijuana through the Henry Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix, federal authorities said.
Ceestra Burgess, 23, of Irvington, N.J., was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute narcotics and possession with intent to distribute narcotics, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
According to court documents, on September 27, 2024, Burgess arrived in St. Croix on a
Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale.
During an inspection of Spirit Airlines luggage, a Customs and Border Protection canine alerted to the presence of narcotics in Burgess’ checked bag.
The luggage was then placed on the baggage claim carousel and later removed by Burgess.
A search of Burgess’ luggage revealed several vacuum sealed packages wrapped in Christmas
paper which contained approximately 12 kilograms of marijuana.
If convicted, Burgess faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
A federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is being investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Huston.
United States Attorney Smith said that a criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten
the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional
information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.