Garry Chupurdy 18 years jail. Chupurdy's girlfriend Qing Hong Xiang six years and Aaron Brown got four years

U.S. District Judge B. Avant Edenfield sentenced the ring leader, Garry Chupurdy to 18 years behind bars. Chupurdy's girlfriend Qing Hong Xiang is going away for six years and their accomplice Aaron Brown got four years. The three were using Chupurdy's boats to transport a large amount of marijuana from Jamaica to the United States. They would throw the drugs overboard off the Georgia coast, then use dive gear to retrieve it and sell it. Chupurdy, Xiang and Brown pleaded guilty last fall.
Members of the Beaufort/Jasper Multi Agency Drug Task Force initiated a drug investigation into a subject living in the Thunderbolt Georgia area and frequenting the Beaufort County South Carolina area. This subject was identified as Garry Clifford Chupurdy, and it was learned that he was responsible for the importation of several thousands of pounds of marijuana being brought into the United States.
A drug investigation was initiated by The Drug Task Force when they received information from confidential sources having knowledge of Chupurdy's involvement of importing large quantities of marijuana by boat (Cat's Meow) from Jamaica to the United States. Chupurdy had ties to the Beaufort County area and had lived on Hilton Head Island for several years. The investigation began in the middle of year 2006 and was concluded near the middle of 2007. Investigation revealed Chupurdy was involved in importing approximately 1500 pounds in 2006 and 2000 pounds of marijuana in 2007. Chupurdy would make yearly drops of smuggled marijuana in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia and would ultimately retrieved the marijuana and package it for distribution. Case Officers conducted countless hours of surveillance in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina. Money and drug seizures were made in each one of these states.This case was primarily worked by agents assigned to the Beaufort/Jasper Multi Agency Drug Task Force, Immigration Customs Enforcement (Charleston) and the United States Coast Guard Investigative Division (Georgia). Near the conclusion of this investigation Immigration Customs Enforcement (Georgia), Georgia Bureau of Investigation, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team, Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department Dive Team, Thunderbolt Police Department, The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms, Customs Border Protection in Savannah Georgia, Jacksonville Air and Marine Operations Branch based in Jacksonville Florida and the U.S. Coast Guard all assisted with the investigation. The case was prosecuted in both the Districts of South Carolina and Georgia.
In June of 2007 several search warrants were executed in the Charleston, Beaufort, Thunderbolt and Savannah area which resulted in the seizure of several boats, illegal narcotics, weapons, currency, property, art work, vehicles and other miscellaneous items.On February 19, 2008, Garry Chupurdy was sentenced in the United States District Court in Savannah, Georgia to 220 months in Federal Prison. Two other individuals (Qing Hong Xiang and Aaron Lee Browne) were also sentenced because of their involvement in the trafficking of marijuana. Xiang received 78 months and Browne received 52 months in Federal Prison.