American rapper Fetty Wap charged with drug trafficking
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
NEW YORK • American rapper Fetty Wap (right, in a 2019 photograph) was last Friday charged in a conspiracy to sell hard drugs, including heroin, across the New York area, allegedly acting as a trafficking "redistributor".
The artiste, whose real name is William Junior Maxwell II, was one of six men indicted by prosecutors in Brooklyn, the United States justice department said in a statement.
They are accused of transporting, distributing and selling more than 100kg of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey.
Between June 2019 and June last year, the defendants allegedly obtained the drugs on America's west coast and used the US Postal Service and drivers with hidden vehicle compartments to transport the narcotics to New York. The substances were then distributed to dealers who sold them on Long Island and in New Jersey, prosecutors allege.
A corrections officer in New Jersey was among those arrested.
"Maxwell was a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organisation," the justice department said.
Prosecutors said about US$1.5 million (S$2 million) in cash, 16kg of cocaine, 2kg of heroin, numerous fentanyl pills and several guns were discovered during searches.
"The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artiste and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become," said Mr Michael Driscoll of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) New York office.
FBI agents arrested Maxwell, 30, last Thursday at the Citi Field baseball stadium in Queens, where he had been scheduled to perform at the Rolling Loud music festival.
He pleaded not guilty to the drug charges last Friday. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of life imprisonment.
Maxwell gained recognition when his debut single, Trap Queen, reached No. 2 in the US charts in 2015. The song was nominated for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance at the Grammy Awards in 2016.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
