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Gateway Athletics founder and prominent Trinidad and Tobago youth football coordinator Shem Alexander faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted, after he was charged by the United States State Department with conspiracy to commit unlawful export smuggling and conspiracy to traffic firearms.
The charges against the 35-year-old Alexander were unsealed last week. Alexander was arrested in Jamaica on 15 November 2024 and extradited to the United States on 20 December 2024, where he is detained pending trial.
It was a move that stunned the local football fraternity, where Alexander operated as head coach of MIC Matura ReUnited and the Hillview College under-14 team, sports and mentorship coordinator of MIC-IT, and director of International Institute of Sports and Management Studies (IISMS).
In his last move before being arrested in Jamaica, Alexander spearheaded the takeover of ex-Pro League and Caribbean club champions Central FC, which was run by current Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Kieron Edwards up until last year.
He was well liked within the sporting community for his easy-going personality and well-mannered approach.
However, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) intends to prove that Alexander was involved in much more than sport.
Photo: 12 Media Productions
According to the indictment, Alexander led a group that unlawfully exported firearms, firearms components (including upper/ lower receivers and gun parts kits), and related items from Florida to Trinidad and Tobago between 2019 and 2022.
The firearms, which included pistols and rifles, and related equipment were concealed within boxing equipment, speakers, and other household items to avoid detection by law enforcement and customs authorities.
US authorities believe the conspirators also acquired firearms in the Tampa area from different sellers through straw purchases, falsely representing the identities of the actual purchasers and recipients of the firearms, as well as their ultimate destination.
On 7 April 2021, Homeland Security believes that Alexander directed conspirators to ship a package concealing and containing various firearms and related equipment (including a Taurus G2C 9mm pistol, a SAR Arms SAR-9 9mm pistol, a Taurus G3 9mm pistol, and a Ruger Security-9 9mm pistol) from Miami to Trinidad and Tobago.
Photo: Pedro Portal/ Miami Herald via AP
The firearms and other related items were seized by authorities at the Piarco International Airport in Trinidad on 21 April 2021. That seizure is likely to be key to the DOJ’s case against Alexander.
The indictment reveals that Alexander’s case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, including HSI’s Attaché Caribbean, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Those law enforcement bodies were assisted by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (Transnational Organized Crime Unit and Special Investigations Unit), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, United States Customs and Border Protection, and the Bureau of Industry and Security – Office of Export Enforcement as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.
The DOJ described the OCDETF’s principal mission as “to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious transnational criminal organisations”.
The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs also provided “critical support” in the extradition of Alexander.
This case will be prosecuted by assistant United States Attorney David WA Chee.
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