A high school teacher from Florida has pleaded guilty to her role in a transnational firearms smuggling operation connected to a criminal organization based in Trinidad and Tobago.
Shannon Lee Samlalsingh, 46, of Tampa, appeared in a U.S. court on June 20 and admitted to making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). She now faces up to five years in federal prison.
According to the plea agreement, in 2020 and 2021, Samlalsingh purchased several firearms and firearms components from federally licensed firearms dealers in Hillsborough County and Miami-Dade County, where she falsely stated on ATF 4473 forms that she was the actual transferee or buyer of said firearms. In reality, Samlalsingh had received money via international wire transfers from members of a Trinidadian transnational criminal organization with instructions to purchase specific model firearms and firearms components, then transfer them to other members of the transnational criminal organization already in Florida, to smuggle them back to Trinidad.
Samlalsingh kept a percentage of the wire transfer funds as compensation. The firearms were smuggled back to Trinidad and Tobago by concealing them in a large wireless speaker and punching bags.
On April 21, 2021, authorities at Piarco International Airport intercepted a shipment arriving from the US.
Two punching bags were found to contain a substantial cache of firearms and accessories. The seizure also included hundreds of rounds of ammunition for various firearms, highlighting the scale of the operation.
The investigation was conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with assistance from Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of National Security.
Samlalsingh’s sentencing date has not yet been set.
