The history of cocaine being smuggled to South Florida goes back for decades as 1980s Florida became synonymous with the cocaine trade. The creative and highly imaginative methods that people have devised to smuggle cocaine have always added to the intrigue. Florida attorney, David Allen Casals was recently accused of smuggling cocaine and bringing it to prisoners at a correctional facility in Palm Beach.
Mr. Casals gained newsworthy status as the method in which he brought into the prison was exceptionally creative. Here’s what you need to know about his attempt to deliver cocaine to prisoners and how he was caught.
The Man
The man who was recently accused of attempting to illegally deliver cocaine to prisoners is a 55-year old attorney. Mr. Casals graduated from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in 1999 and has been practicing law since the year 2000. He operates a law office in South Florida.
Despite the allegations, he is currently considered to be a member in good standing with the Florida Bar Association. The accusations against him indicate that he was intentionally attempting to deliver cocaine to prisoners located in Palm Beach County Jail.
This is not the first time that David Allen Casals found himself in hot water since first practicing law in 2000. He was given a public reprimand in 2007. A public reprimand is issued when an attorney does something wrong.
Although public reprimands are only given when attorneys have done something wrong, they are essentially a warning that is meant to dissuade the attorney in question from behaving unscrupulously in the future. Although Mr. Casals was disciplined by a State licensing authority in 2007, he went on to smuggle cocaine to prisoners in Palm Beach.
Although he was ultimately issued criminal charges for his involvement in smuggling cocaine into Palm Beach County Jail, his reviews indicate that he is a talented attorney who is dedicated to providing his clients with a sturdy criminal defense.
The Method
The most interesting aspect of the crime that Mr. Casals was charged with is the way in which he attempted to disguise and ultimately smuggle the cocaine into the jail. He brought papers that were saturated with cocaine and disguised the papers as legitimate documents.
When bringing the cocaine into Palm Beach County Jail, Mr. Casals saturated paper with the drug in an effort to deliver it to prisoners undetected. He had direct access to prisoners as he leveraged his attorney-client privileges to meet in person.
These meetings were ostensibly held on the premise of conducting strategy meetings to help prisoners plan a legal defense. His access to prisoners and privileged position gave him the means to make illegal deliveries to prisoners directly.
The allegations indicate that Mr. Casals attempted to disguise the cocaine-laced paper underneath a cover sheet. The papers underneath the cover sheet were meant to look like a translation between Spanish and English in an effort to disguise them as legitimate documents.
The papers in question had Bible verses written on them and included a picture of a woman with no known connection to anything involving the prisoners he met with. A deputy at Palm Beach County Jail saw what they surmised to be watermarks as the paper was stained.
These watermarks alerted the deputy who became suspicious of them and had them examined. The papers were taken and tested by a forensic scientist who confirmed that the paper in question contained 136 grams of cocaine.
The deputy that noticed the unusual marks and stains on the papers should be applauded for their remarkably astute observation. If the deputy had not noticed and questioned the stains on the papers brought in by Mr. Casals, he may have been successful in delivering 136 grams of cocaine.
The Result
As a result of the deputy’s observation and suspicions, Mr. Casals was arrested and charged with a first-degree felony charge for trafficking cocaine. He was also given a second-degree felony charge for delivering the substance. Finally, he was charged with a felony for introducing contraband to a county building.
Although he made bail after forking over $58,000, the charges that Mr. Casals is currently facing are extremely serious. The latest reports indicate that Mr. Casals has chosen to plead not guilty in response to the charges that he’s facing.
Looking Back on the History of Creative Attempts to Smuggle Cocaine In Florida
While people have tried all kinds of things to smuggle cocaine throughout Florida, it’s the attempts to bring it into the state that has gained the most attention from the media over the years.
People have tried everything from something as creative yet mundane as hiding cocaine inside nuts and kidney beans to transporting thousands of pounds of the stuff on a submarine. The history of cocaine smuggling in Florida is a long one.
During the 1980s, the Cocaine Cowboys left a mark on the area with ripple effects that can be felt to this day. While the term Cocaine Cowboys originally referred to Colombians in the cocaine trade it eventually applied to virtually everyone active in Florida that was in the business.
Today as in the past, law enforcement must be vigilant in its efforts to combat the illegal sale of cocaine in South Florida and beyond.
The Conclusion
The conclusion to this story is that while Mr. Casal’s story may come to a close after the court battle concludes, the story of people attempting to deliver cocaine throughout the state of Florida will continue.
If anything this story serves to remind us that the people that deliver illegal drugs aren’t always a shifty malcontent in a hoody. The drug trade includes people from all walks of life including those from the echelons of society that are traditionally considered to be highly respectable.
The fact that an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar went through such great lengths in an attempt to smuggle cocaine into a correctional facility is a wake-up call. In response to the recent incident, Palm Beach County Jail has declared that it will be looking into improving its policies.