Venezuelan man caught with US$83,000 hidden in shampoo bottles pleads guilty 

A Venezuelan man who was caught trying to leave the island with more than US$83,000 or just over J$10 million has pleaded guilty to a number of criminal charges.

Forty-three-year-old Randolph Fernandez was fined a total of $700,000 after he pleaded guilty in the Corporate Area Criminal Court (C-TOC) to possession of criminal property and attempting to remove criminal property from Jamaica.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime division reports that Fernandez was arrested at the Norman Manley International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Curacao in November last year.

He was reportedly approached by police personnel who were conducting security checks and during a search of his luggage, C-TOC says US$83,900 were found hidden in shampoo bottles.