FLORIDA- The attorney for a Bahamian woman charged with drug smuggling is trying to prevent her post-arrest statement from being used at her trial.
Pereze Ferguson, 27, faces cocaine importation charges.
Florida law enforcement intercepted 2.9 kilos of cocaine that was shipped through FedEx from The Bahamas on June 16, 2020.
However, the courier service could not deliver the box of “face masks” to Dave Black because the address was wrong.
Prosecutors allege that Ferguson called FedEx inquiring about the status of the package. Then, she allegedly corrected the delivery address several times.
This raised suspicions and FedEx contacted the authorities, who found the cocaine when they searched the package. Law enforcement replaced the seized cocaine with sham cocaine and set up a sting.
An undercover agent posing as a FedEx worker contacted Ferguson to arrange the package’s delivery at the Broward Mall on June 18.
When Ferguson said she had changed her mind about collecting the package, police stopped her truck and arrested her.
Ferguson allegedly waived her Miranda rights and admitted that she’d been hired to collect the package.
However, her defense attorney wants this statement thrown out. He alleged that investigators used her four-year-old son as leverage.
The lawyer claims that law enforcement allowed the minor in the interview room.
A hearing to determine the admissibility of the statement will be held on October 4.
