They are accused of smuggling 74 kilos of cocaine into the United States and last week one of the Seawell brothers pled guilty. He is 34-year-old Duane Seawell who was deported from Jamaica earlier this year and arrested by U.S. Marshals in Miami. And while his brother Mark fights extradition from Belize and his younger brother Gary is on the run, Duane last week pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine into the United States.
The allegation is that the brothers were at the head of a drug ring that used couriers from the Columbus, Ohio area to traffick 163 pounds or 74 kilos of cocaine from Chetumal into the United States. This is how it worked: packets of cocaine; sometimes as much as two pounds were hidden in the shoes of the couriers. Millions were made and it is alleged that more than US$1 million of their cocaine profits was wired from Columbus Ohio to Belize.
Mark Seawell again is fighting extradition. Earlier this year his attorney Elson Kaseke asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to order the return of Duane Seawell before the extradition hearing resumes. Kaseke contended that the U.S. government overstepped its boundary when they seized Duane while he was on his way back to Belize. It now seems Duane won't wait around for the outcome and reached the plea agreement. He will be sentenced in December.
