Former Trinidad cyclist Varun Maharajh has been sentenced to seven years in a US prison for smuggling firearms overseas and possessing firearms as an unlawful alien.
The US Department of Justice said Maharjh pleaded guilty to the charges on March 21, 2024.
The court also ordered Maharajh to forfeit the firearms and ammunition seized in the case.
According to court documents, on June 28, 2022, Maharajh shipped a parcel to London containing a microwave with five concealed pistols inside. The package contained a Taurus G2C pistol, a Glock 17 Gen 5 pistol, two Glock 19 Gen 5 pistols, and 59 rounds of 9 mm ammunition. The serial numbers were obliterated on the firearms and Maharajh used a fake name, “Kelvin Singh,” to ship the package.
On July 18, 2022, Maharajh dropped off a package at a freight forwarding company in Miami. The package was addressed to Trinidad and Tobago and Maharajh worked with an intermediary who filled out the paperwork.
According to the release, the package contained a tent with two AK-47 style firearms concealed within its folds along with a microwave containing pistols.
US officials said while Maharajh worked with another individual, he did show a fake ID with the name “Kelvin Singh” to the freight forwarding company when he dropped off the package.
Maharajh was arrested in Indian River County on November 19, 2023, and engaged in a high-speed chase on I-95 before totaling his vehicle and attempting to flee on foot.
Maharjh is believed to have entered the United States in 2020 and stayed without legal status. Maharajh was previously a World Cup cyclist for Trinidad and Tobago and qualified for the Olympics in 2016.
United States Ambassador Candace Bond said: “This latest conviction represents the commitment of United States law enforcement agencies to collaborate with their Trinidad and Tobago counterparts, including the Transnational Organized Crime Unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to arrest, prosecute, and disrupt illicit weapons trafficking networks from the United States.”
