SAVANNAH, Georgia (29 June 2007) -- A Thunderbolt man is in big trouble with the law. Federal officials arrested Garry Chupurdy on Monday for smuggling nearly a ton of marijuana from Jamaica. Today Chupurdy, his fiance Qing Xiang and Mike Mlay, a friend from Beaufort County, faced a judge at Savannah's federal courthouse on Bull Street. Chupurdy, Xiang and Mlay are all charged with importation of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess and distribute. Agent Trey Taylor with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau testified today that Chupurdy used his 78-foot sailing catamaran named the "Cat's Meow" for his smuggling operation. Taylor said Chupurdy sailed to Jamaica last August and again this past May to buy large quantities of marijuana. Investigators say once Chupurdy got about 30 miles off the coast of Georgia, he tied the drugs to an anchor and dropped them overboard. Then he returned in a smaller boat, and using a GPS locator and scuba gear he recovered the drugs off the ocean floor. Divers with the US Coast Guard and the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department found 1,200 pounds out in the ocean yesterday. Investigators recovered another 500 pounds in Chupurdy's Thunderbolt condo on River Drive. Agent Taylor testified he has a lot of evidence against Chupurdy. Federal officials wired tapped his phones, installed surveillance cameras on his dock, even used airplanes to track his trips from Thunderbolt to Jamaica. | | Goodbye Ferrari, goodbye 78-ft catamaran sailboat, goodbye freedom. Mike Mlay, Qing Xiang and Garry Chupurdy faced a judge today at Savannah's federal courthouse. Neighbors said they saw investigators confiscate Chupurdy's sailboat and fishing boat this morning from a Thunderbolt marina. They said earlier this week they confiscated his Ferrari, motorcycles and ATVs. Chupurdy's neighbors did not want to talk to WTOC on camera. They did say they had no idea Chupurdy was under investigation for smuggling drugs. A judge denied bond to Chupurdy and his sailing friend Mike Mlay. Chupurdy's fiance got a $100,000 dollar bond. SOURCE - WTOCSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
