Protecting seniors
from a new international drug smuggling scam
J. Bryon Martin is a 77-year-old retired pastor who, until last July, lived in Dresden, Maine, and had a spotless criminal record — not even a parking ticket. Today, he sits in a European prison as a convicted drug smuggler, another victim of a new and especially cruel scam being perpetrated against our nation’s seniors.
As the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, I recently led a hearing to unveil this scam publicly for the first time. This scam was brought to the Committee’s attention by federal law enforcement officials and Pastor Martin’s son, Andy. This horrific new scheme involves global drug traffickers who deceive seniors to unknowingly smuggle drugs across international borders. The scam is particularly pernicious as it preys not only upon the trusting nature of seniors, but also upon the loneliness some of them experience later in life.
The scam begins when a criminal organization draws an unsuspecting senior into a web of deceit by first forming a personal, often online relationship with the victim. The criminals then trick the individual into traveling overseas under a pretense, such as collecting money that has been won in a “lottery,” recovering important documents in person, or meeting their online “friend.” The criminals cover the cost of international travel for their victim and create a complicated itinerary that requires the senior to travel to at least one other country and pick up a package or suitcase en route. Unbeknownst to the senior, these packages have drugs carefully hidden inside.
Andy Martin was among our witnesses, and the story he told was heartbreaking. Upon retirement, his father resided with a daughter in Dresden. Bored and lonely, Mr. Martin visited Internet chat sites and struck up a friendship with someone who appeared to be a young women from the United Kingdom named “Joy.”
“Joy” claimed that she was from a large wealthy family and that her father had been murdered by a business partner. The family supposedly had vast financial holdings all over the world, but Joy was unable to access anything out of fear for her life and thus lived in poverty. Mr. Martin sent Joy a few hundred dollars each month out of his Social Security check even though it meant he could not help out with household expenses in Dresden.
Early last year, Mr. Martin met a local woman in Maine, and they married. When Mr. Martin informed “Joy” that he would no longer be able to support her, she convinced him to do one last favor — travel to South America, pick up documents that would enable her to sell a large estate, and deliver them to her in Europe.
In South America, Mr. Martin was met by a man claiming to be Joy’s lawyer who handed him two sealed packages he said were the needed real-estate documents. Upon his landing in Europe, authorities opened the packages and discovered approximately four pounds of cocaine worth some $450,000. Although Mr. Martin was not aware that the packages contained an illegal substance, he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to six years and one day in prison for drug smuggling. Tragically, due to his age and ill health, he may remain in prison for the rest of his life, alone and thousands of miles from his family.
This scam, as bizarre and convoluted as it seems, is increasingly common. At least 145 victims, the majority of whom are seniors, have been arrested by foreign governments for unknowingly carrying a total of 272 kilograms of methamphetamine, 209 kilograms of cocaine, 4 kilograms of ecstasy, and 11 kilograms of heroin, all believed to be related to transnational criminal organizations. Based on current estimates, more than 30 Americans remain incarcerated overseas as a result of this scam.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol have created a joint operation they have dubbed “Operation Cocoon” to work with U.S. and international law enforcement agencies to combat this scam. They discussed this operation for the first time at our Aging Committee hearing. ICE agents have prevented at least 16 seniors from becoming victims. Foreign authorities have arrested 15 subjects affiliated with international criminal organizations as a result of Operation Cocoon.
The criminals, global drug traffickers, who set this chain of events into motion are cruel, but also very, very clever. Federal law enforcement needs to continue to mount a vigorous and determined effort, which is not an easy task given the challenges posed by international boundaries. In addition, it is essential that seniors and their families become aware of these criminals’ techniques and take action to protect themselves and their loved ones from these heartless criminals.
