Buju’s lawyers claim singer tricked into drug deal

FLORIDA, United States, January 27, 2010 – Defence attorneys preparing for a March start of the drug case against reggae star Buju Banton are trying to get the court to reveal the identity of a man whom they claim was a paid government informant used to convince the singer to buy cocaine.

The efforts are part of an entrapment defence which the team of lawyers is putting together.

Buju, whose real name is Mark Myrie, has been in prison since being arrested on December 10th. He is accused of conspiring to distribute five kilogrammes of cocaine and aiding and abetting his co-defendants in possessing a firearm during the course of the cocaine distribution.

In court documents filed yesterday, one of the lawyers, David Markus, asks for the criminal record of the confidential source (CS) and how much he was paid for helping in the case.

He said in the court filing that Buju did not know the man before he sat next to him on a flight from Spain to Miami in July 2009. During that plane ride, Markus said, “after softening up Mr Myrie with small talk”, the CS turned the conversation to the topic of cocaine.

"Throughout the flight, the CS tried to interest Mr Myrie in buying cocaine. Mr Myrie, however, was not interested,” Markus wrote in court documents.

"We want to know who this person was and why he was bringing this up with our client. We want to know everything there is to know."

He added that over the course of the months leading to his client’s arrest, the CS repeatedly called Buju and they actually met for lunch on July 27th. After that, the source made other calls to Buju, some of which Markus claimed his client dodged.

The attorney said the man kept pressuring the singer to sell cocaine.

"Finally, on December 8th, 2009, the CS was successful in convincing Mr Myrie to meet with him," Markus said in the documents, noting that they later met at a warehouse.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) claims to have Buju on video tasting the drugs at that location.

It’s alleged that Buju’s associates brokered a deal over the following two days and they were arrested while attempting to finalize it on December 10th. The singer himself was held by law enforcement officials later that same day at his house in Florida.