MULTIPLE properties and assets of Guyanese businessman Shervington Lovell and other co-defendants who were recently arrested for drug trafficking are expected to be forfeited by the United States authorities.

The businessman, along with Agimero Castro and Surinamese Steven Antonius were hauled in by the authorities in Jamaica recently for violating United States maritime drug enforcement laws in Guyana, Jamaica, Colombia and elsewhere, court documents indicate.

According to the Grand Jury Indictment, the US Government asked that the defendants forfeit, among other things, all real estate, including any rights, titles and interests in the whole of any lot or tract of land, any drug paraphernalia and any firearm used or intended to be used to facilitate the sale, receipt, possession or concealment of property and proceeds traceable to such property.

The indictment also says the government will seek forfeiture of any other property of the defendants up to the value of the above described forfeitable property. Locally, the authorities have stated that Lovell, who was arrested once by the police here during several crimes in 2010, owns seven properties in Guyana and one in Jamaica.

The man is said to be the owner of several hotels here, including the Tower Suites on Main Street and a posh facility in Berbice which is equipped with a gym. According to the documents , the businessman was allegedly part of a ring of drug traffickers who were conspiring to ship 624 kilos of cocaine to the Netherlands via the Azores islands, an operation United States investigators said was planned and partly funded with money from South Africa.

The accused are being held in Jamaica after their arrest last month moments after they disembarked a flight. They are expected to be extradited to the United States for trial following completion of the necessary paperwork on the island.