FOLLOWING his extradition to the United States, the authorities here have raided several properties of Shervington “Big Head “Lovell, including the Tower Hotel on Main Street in the city.

Last month the U.S. indicated that it was pursuing forfeiture of the assets and properties of the businessman along with those of co-defendants Agimero Castro and Surinamese Steven Antonius. The men were hauled in by the authorities in Jamaica in October for violating United States maritime drug- enforcement laws in Guyana, Jamaica, Colombia and elsewhere, court documents indicate.

Sources affiliated to the hotel told the Guyana Chronicle this week that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) investigators moved in on the entity in recent days and seized a number of documents. While some staff members seemed unaware of what was happening, others cooperated with the officials, a source noted on Wednesday.

According to the Grand Jury indictment, the U.S. 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 a posh facility in Berbice which is equipped with a gym. According to the documents, Lovell 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 U.S. 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.