Last night we told you about an unmarked suitcase with 200 cell phones that was found by Customs in the BTB booth in the arrival section of the Phillip Goldson international Airport.
The cell phones are valued at about thirty thousand dollars – not the kind of thing that anyone leaves lying around. And they didn’t. Customs investigators have concluded that it was all orchestrated. Investigators believe there was collusion from the still unidentified person who brought in the suitcase, staffers at the BTB office and other personnel in the airport who have access to the area. Seems the plan was to stow the suitcase in the back of the BTB booth, leave the door to booth open and after the area was closed – meaning after the customs officers went home at evening time - someone would pick it up and smuggle it out, duty free.
And while that was the plan, customs has not been able to track down all the players with access to the area – though they believe there was principal collusion from two female staffers at the BTB booth, Viviani Acosta and Coleen Gillette.
Director of the BTB Tracy Panton this evening confirmed that after a full day of investigation and deliberation, the board has taken the decision to terminate both women. While Panton did not go into details she told us that, “their actions were contrary to procedures and inconsistent with policies and guidelines the board has taken the decision to relieve the officers of their duties.” To clarify, “relieve” in this case does not mean transferred to another area, or suspended; they have been sent home, terminated.
Now, bear in mind that just yesterday Panton sent us a release saying that, “the BTB officer stationed at the PGIA, in this case she was talking about Colleen Gillett, has been an exemplary employee...there is no reason for the BTB to believe that she was intentionally involved in a matter of this nature.” That was yesterday – two hours after Panton and the BTB found out about the incident from us. But today, of course, things have changed and after its investigation, the BTB has concluded that Colleen Gillet and Viviani Acosta acted improperly.
7News has confirmed that Customs officials believe they know who the phones were for. They have been connected to VIP Wireless – a local cell phone vendor. We contacted the owner Mohit Bhudrani who told us the following, “I can’t comment on it. There is an investigation ongoing. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
From what Customs officials have been able to determine, someone affiliated with Bhudrani flew in on Tuesday and that person did declare and present a number of cell phone accessories such as chargers and headset but no cell phones. As we understand it, duty was paid on those items. And while that went through, someone most likely that same person used the BTB connect to secretly stow the suitcase in the BTB booth.
That’s where it stands tonight, but what’s going to happen next? Well it is an investigation into Customs evasion - which can usually be settled with a hefty fine – but the customs investigation is still ongoing.
