Jamaican National Pleads Guilty to Trafficking 56 Firearms to Jamaica

Omar Watson, a 32-year-old Jamaican national, pleaded guilty May 13 in federal court in Fort Lauderdale to illegally exporting dozens of firearms, high-capacity magazines and ammunition from the United States to Jamaica.

Between 2022 and 2024 Watson concealed 56 handguns, 12 assault rifles, more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition and 35 extended magazines inside furniture shipments routed through the Port of Miami, according to the Department of Justice. The firearms were destined for the Kingston metropolitan area where Jamaican authorities have recorded a surge in gun-related homicides traced to U.S. trafficking routes.

The plea changes Watson’s legal status from defendant to convicted felon. Sentencing is scheduled for August 12. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922 and § 924, he now faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 15 years, followed by supervised release and forfeiture of any remaining assets linked to the scheme.

Downstream, the conviction requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to update targeting rules for furniture exports to Jamaica and the Caribbean. Federal prosecutors must now share the specific concealment methods with Jamaican law enforcement under existing mutual legal assistance treaties, triggering reviews of at least four open investigations that reference similar Miami-to-Kingston shipping manifests.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will add the seized serial numbers to its national tracing database, allowing Jamaican police to close prior cases involving recovered weapons.

This case forms part of a documented enforcement push by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. In the past 24 months that office has secured guilty pleas from three other Jamaican nationals for identical concealment tactics inside household goods.

The original investigation began after Jamaican authorities recovered 11 of the trafficked handguns at crime scenes in St. Andrew Parish between March 2023 and January 2024 and traced them through ATF eTrace records to Florida retail purchases.

The plea document confirms Watson acted with the assistance of two co-conspirators still at large in South Florida and Jamaica. No additional indictments have been announced.