Shaheed "Roger" Khan (born 13 January 1972) is a Guyanese criminal who was active in drugs trafficking, money laundering and arms smuggling. He trafficked

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

from

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

into the United States and used construction and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

businesses to launder money. Khan was considered to be Guyana's most powerful drug lord. In leaked US embassy cables Khan's control over Guyana is compared with

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

's erstwhile control over

. Khan is allegedly the head of the notorious and lethal "Phantom Squad" which Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy has described as a murderous killing machine and which the US Federal Courts have said has already killed over 200 people during the 2002–2006 crimewave in Guyana. There have been repeated claims that Khan had close ties with the Guyanese government. In 2006, after police issued an arrest warrant for him, Khan had publicly said in an advertisement that he was fighting criminals on behalf of the government. Khan used to surround himself with a coterie of former police tactical squad members for security. According to leaked cables Khan used to pay his low-level security personnel US$1,600 per month—at least eight times what they previously earned with the police force. In 1993 Khan was arrested in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

for receiving and possessing firearms while being a convicted felon (he was on probation for theft committed in 1992 in

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. He would be tried for possession of illegal firearms and ammunition but fled to

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

when he was on bail. This is the reason why judge Dora Irizarry denied Khan bail in January 2007 when he was being sentenced for his crimes. On 15 June 2006 Khan was arrested in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

with three of his bodyguards in a sting operation that

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se police said netted more than 200 kilograms of

– the biggest cocaine haul in Suriname of that year. Instead of being deported to

then minister of Justice of Suriname

Chan Santokhi Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi (; , ; born 3 February 1959) is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who is the 9th president of Suriname, since 2020. After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the sole nominee for president o ...

ordered that Khan would be flown to

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. This decision received a lot of protest from president

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...

's party, which then formed the biggest opposition party in the parliament of Suriname. Upon the arrival at the airport of Trinidad Khan was handed over to immigration authorities who then handed him over to US officials. Less than 24 hours after being expelled from Suriname, Khan was arraigned at the Brooklyn Federal Court in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on 30 June 2006 on a charge of “conspiring to import cocaine” and was ordered to be detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. In October 2009 Khan was sentenced in a courtroom in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to 40 years imprisonment for trafficking large amounts of cocaine in the United States of America,

witness tampering Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficulty ...

and illegal firearm possession. According to US embassy cables Khan had ties with the

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasan ...

. Khan exchanged the arms he smuggled into Guyana from Suriname,

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, and possibly France with the FARC for cocaine. According to the cables there are strong indications that Khan was deeply involved in a huge shipment of weapons to FARC in Colombia in December 2005. In the cables there are also reports that Khan and Bouterse, who is the current president of Suriname, have met each other several times 2006 in Nickerie at the home of Bouterse's party member Rashied Doekhi to discuss cocaine trafficking and plot to murder then Suriname's minister of Justice

and Suriname's attorney general Subhaas Punwasi. According to the cables Khan also raised his nephew Zachariah Khan as his own son and started him at an early age committing murders, selling guns and drugs- making him a close associate to the Phantom

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings, massacres, or enforced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in w ...

. In 2016 Zachariah was arrested in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida along with his (Zachariah)

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

for possession of illegal firearms and ammunition, along with a large quantity of

found at the residence. It was later established that his (Zachariah) wife, Nafeeza Khan (Tricia) was released after questioning in

Florida and returned to

. In June, 2016 Nafeeza was said to be administering both Khans'

assets In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

and terminated the "phantom death squad", or what was left of it. However, it was never verified that she was involved in any drug related instances said,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Cables Edition. Khan's lawyer in his case was Robert Simels. Simels is former lawyer of convicted drug trafficker

Kenneth McGriff Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff (born September 19, 1959) is an American former drug lord from New York City who founded the organized crime syndicate the Supreme Team. In 2001, he was convicted of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking and sentenced t ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

Henry Hill Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testi ...

, who received international fame because of the 1990

crime movie '' Goodfellas'' which portrays his rise and fall. On 4 December 2009, Khan's lawyer was sentenced to 14 years in prison for, after consulting with Khan in jail, instructing a hit-man to kill the star witness in Khan's case. However, the hit-man turned out to be a government informant who secretly recorded the conversations with Simels. Simels and Khan were also convicted of possessing illegal eavesdropping equipment, which was seized in a raid on Simels' East Side offices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Roger 1972 births Living people Guyanese criminals Indo-Guyanese people