Latest news with #VanBeverhoudt
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Miami Herald
It was ‘incredibly easy' for customs officer to fly cocaine ‘bricks' to GA, feds say
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer convicted of smuggling 16 'bricks' of cocaine inside his carry-on bags has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said. Ivan Van Beverhoudt was traveling in his official capacity when he boarded an Atlanta-bound flight in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands with cocaine stashed inside a red roller bag and black handbag in January 2020, according to federal court filings, McClatchy News previously reported. He bypassed a TSA security screening in St. Thomas because he checked in with his CBP credentials and had his CBP-issued firearm, which was loaded, according to court documents and prosecutors. '(Van Beverhoudt's) position as a CBP officer made it incredibly easy for him to smuggle drugs across the United States' borders, as he could simply board the plane with the drugs undetected,' reads a sentencing memo written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bethany L. Rupert, for the Northern District of Georgia. After Van Beverhoudt arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a CBP K-9 alerted its handler to him and his bags, according to court documents. Then his fellow officers escorted Van Beverhoudt to a CBP interview room, where they found the cocaine, court documents say. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee handed the 20-year sentence to Van Beverhoudt, 45, of St. Thomas, on July 8, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a July 9 news release. Van Beverhoudt had retained defense attorneys Bruce S. Harvey and Stephen M. Katz to represent him in the case. They did not immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment July 10. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said 'Van Beverhoudt betrayed his badge by committing one of the very crimes he was entrusted to prevent — smuggling dangerous drugs into our country.' At the end of a five-day jury trial in February, Van Beverhoudt was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S., importation of cocaine into the U.S., conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. In a sentencing memo on his behalf, Harvey noted that Van Beverhoudt was acquitted of a gun charge. Prior flights to the US The government suspects Van Beverhoudt smuggled drugs into the U.S. on several occasions before he was caught with cocaine in Atlanta on Jan. 10, 2020. Investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations learned that in 2019, Van Beverhoudt flew to the U.S. eight different times in his official capacity as a CBP officer, the sentencing memorandum says. He is accused of working with another man he had a history of communicating with to deliver drugs to Baltimore in 2019. 'HSI concluded that (Van Beverhoudt) had regularly been delivering narcotics to Baltimore,' Rupert wrote in the sentencing memo. 'On each of these trips, (he) carried a firearm with him, so that he could bypass TSA security as a law enforcement officer flying while armed,' the filing says. Van Beverhoudt was investigated by HSI, CBP and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. ICE and CBP are among multiple agencies that fall under DHS.
Miami Herald
27-02-2025
- Miami Herald
On-duty officer smuggling 16 ‘bricks' of cocaine is caught at Atlanta airport, feds say
A man with 16 'bricks' of cocaine inside his carry-on bags traveled to Atlanta in his official capacity as a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer, federal prosecutors said. When Ivan Van Beverhoudt arrived at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport from the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2020, a CBP canine alerted its handler to Beverhoudt and his bags, according to court documents. This led officers to escort Van Beverhoudt to a CBP interview room, where they discovered cocaine packed inside his red roller bag and black hand bag, court documents say. Now, more than five years later, a federal jury has returned a guilty verdict against Van Beverhoudt in connection with the discovery, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a Feb. 26 news release. Van Beverhoudt, 45, of St. Thomas, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S., importation of cocaine into the U.S., conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. His defense attorneys didn't respond to McClatchy News' request for comment Feb. 26. Before Van Beverhoudt boarded his flight to Atlanta in January 2020, he bypassed a TSA security screening because he checked in with his CBP credentials at an airport in St. Thomas, according to court documents. As a result, he traveled from St. Thomas to Georgia as an armed law enforcement officer, with his CBP-issued firearm, prosecutors said. Van Beverhoudt planned to smuggle the cocaine he carried with him to Baltimore, where he was supposed to fly to after arriving in Atlanta, according to prosecutors. His plans changed when he was caught with the narcotics at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, prosecutors said. 'Van Beverhoudt used his trusted position as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer to circumvent the law and smuggle dangerous drugs into our community,' U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie Jr. said in a statement. 'Thanks to the diligent efforts of our law enforcement partners, Van Beverhoudt is now being held accountable and faces time in federal prison,' Moultrie said. Van Beverhoudt's sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 29, court records show.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Yahoo
Former customs agent convicted of smuggling 16 kilos of cocaine to Atlanta airport
A 45-year-old former customs agent is out of a job after he was convicted of carrying more than just clothes in his carry-on bags. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] According to court documents, on Jan. 10, 2020, Van Beverhoudt, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer boarded his commercial flight from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to Atlanta with 16 bricks of cocaine in two carry-on bags. Officials said Beverhoudt traveled in full uniform with his loaded CBP-issued gun, to avoid the TSA screening. The scheme was foiled after Beverhoudt's flight arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to head to his final destination, Baltimore, MD, and a K-9 sniffed out the drugs, officials said. TRENDING STORIES: Trump administration sets stage for large-scale federal worker layoffs in new memo 57 sets of cremains found in fire-damaged Cobb County funeral home identified North Georgia nudist resort hits the market for nearly $1.8M After a five-day trial, Beverhoudt, 45, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, importation of cocaine into the United States, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. 'Van Beverhoudt used his trusted position as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer to circumvent the law and smuggle dangerous drugs into our community,' said Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr. 'Thanks to the diligent efforts of our law enforcement partners, Van Beverhoudt is now being held accountable and faces time in federal prison.' The court will consider the US sentencing guidelines, which are not binding but provide sentencing ranges for most offenders. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
