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Frozen-Drug Smuggler Put On Ice for 14 Years

June 5, 2007 — Vernon Grant tried to smuggle heroin and cocaine into the Virgin Islands under ice and fish in coolers, and a federal judge gave him more than a decade in prison for the plot Tuesday.
The judge sentenced 36-year-old Grant to 14 years in prison for conspiring to illegally import the drugs. He could have been sentenced to life.
Grant tried to sneak five kilograms of cocaine and more than one kilogram of heroin into St. Thomas, said U.S. Attorney Anthony J. Jenkins in a news release. He was convicted Oct. 20, 2006.
The smuggling plot involved hiding the drugs at the bottom of fish- and ice-filled coolers, which "female couriers" carried into the Virgin Islands, authorities said.
The scheme, which Jenkins said lasted from May 2003 to February 2004, funneled some 28 kilograms of cocaine and at least one kilogram of heroin into the territory.
The arrest was made by officers of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which includes the DEA, FBI, V.I. Police Department and V.I. National Guard.
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