The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested Guyanese national William Narine outside his residence in Schenectady, New York, citing his previous conviction for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
In a post yesterday, ICE said Narine was taken into custody during a targeted immigration enforcement operation.
“ICE prioritized his arrest due to his conviction for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States,” the agency said in a post on X formerly Twitter.
ICE did not provide Narine’s age, immigration status or the date of his conviction. It also did not say whether he is facing removal from the United States or where he is being detained.
Narine’s conviction stemmed from a long-running cocaine-trafficking case in which several Guyanese and Trinidadian nationals were prosecuted in New York.
Stabroek News had reported in 2009 and 2010 that Narine, his wife Savitree, his brother David and sister-in-law Susan were charged in the United States in 2003 with conspiracy to import and possess narcotics.
William Narine was reported to have been convicted in 2009 and sentenced to time served and five years of supervised release. His wife had earlier received a sentence of time served.
The Narines were also linked to the US prosecution of Guyanese businessman Peter Morgan, who pleaded guilty in June 2009 to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.
Morgan admitted in a New York court that, between December 2001 and August 2003, he conspired with David Narine to move cocaine into and out of Guyana. He was subsequently sentenced to ten years in prison.
According to the indictment cited by Stabroek News at the time, Morgan was accused of conspiring with David Narine, Susan Narine, Trinidadian Hung-Fung Mar and others to import cocaine between October 2001 and August 2003.
William and David Narine testified in proceedings against Mar, who was convicted after refusing to plead guilty. William reportedly testified that Mar sent people to his New York apartment to deliver packages.
Susan Narine testified that she and her husband began trafficking cocaine from Trinidad to the United States in August 2001. She said the operation later shifted to Guyana following Mar’s arrest in Trinidad. Court records cited at the time indicated that couriers generally transported between half a kilogramme and five kilogrammes of cocaine on each trip.
David Narine, who cooperated with US prosecutors, was sentenced in February 2010 to time served and five years of supervised release after spending approximately seven years in custody.
Most of the court documents concerning the narines’ cooperation with the US authorities were reportedly sealed.
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