Customs and Border Protection Officer Used His Position To Smuggle 16 Bricks Of Cocaine Into The US
- The former disgraced US. CBP officer attempted to smuggle 16 bricks of cocaine weighing 17.90 kg into the United States via St. Thomas in the US. Virgin Islands. The drug haul could have been worth as much as $1.25 million at street value.
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer who was stationed on St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, has been sentenced to 20 years in a federal prison after he was found guilty of using his position to smuggle 16 bricks of cocaine into the Contiguous United States.
Ivan Van Beverhoudt, 45, was sentenced on July 8 by United States District Judge J.P. Boulee in a Georgia district court after a lengthy investigation and trial that had been dragging on since Beverhoudt’s arrest on January 10, 2020.
It was on that day that Beverhoudt flew with Delta Air Lines from St. Thomas to Atlanta and was apprehended by his own peers as he stepped off the plane and onto the jetway.
According to court papers, Beverhoudt had attempted to avoid detection by traveling with his CBP credentials and service firearm to bypass the TSA security checkpoint at St. Thomas Airport.
Beverhoudt was traveling with a rollerboard and a satchel packed with cocaine that, at the time, could have been worth as much as $1.25 million at street price.
Unbeknownst to Beverhoudt, however, CBP officers with a narcotics detection dog were waiting for the arrival of the Delta flight from St. Thomas.
While there was no specific intelligence against Beverhoudt, the US Virgin Islands are considered a high-risk transit point for drug smuggling so airline arrivals are often subject to random checks.
As soon as Beverhoudt stepped off the plane and onto the jetway, the narcotics detection dog alerted to his hand luggage. He was pulled aside and taken away from questioning, where he quickly started trying to evade questions.
His baggage was inspected, and 16 bricks of cocaine weighing a total of 17.90 kg were discovered inside.
Beverhoudt had pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced, but following a five-day jury trial on February 24, 2025, he was convicted of a slew of crimes, including conspiracy to import cocaine, importation of cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
“Van Beverhoudt betrayed his badge by committing one of the very crimes he was entrusted to prevent—smuggling dangerous drugs into our country,” slammed U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, following the disgraced CBP officer’s sentencing.
Our office and its agency partners will hold accountable any law enforcement officer who abuses his authority for criminal ends, and Van Beverhoudt’s twenty-year sentence demonstrates that such abuse will be met with severe consequences,” Hertzberg continued.
Last June, another Customs and Border Protection officer pleaded guilty to stealing as much as $18,700 from private jet passengers during random checks that were carried out at Naples Airport in Florida between mid-2023 and early 2024.
William Joseph Timothy, 43, from Ave Maria, received a 12-month jail sentence after admitting to swiping cash from rich passengers.
