ORLANDO, Fla. — A convicted drug trafficker was able to expand his illegal operation with the help of a man he met in federal prison, authorities say.
Court documents show Jonathan Eric Gardiner, 58, served time in a federal prison in Florida in 2006 after he was convicted on narcotics and money laundering charges. A DEA agent identified the man as “CC2.”
Gardiner was deported back to his native Bahamas in 2014. For several months, authorities said Gardiner and a group of men, including CC2, conspired to traffic drugs from the Caribbean and Latin America into the United States. The operation began in February 2023 and wrapped up in June of that year, according to court documents.
Gardiner was one of 11 passengers on a chartered flight that went down in the ocean on Florida’s East Coast, near Melbourne, on May 12. The Coast Guard rescued all the passengers.
Investigators say Gardiner was carrying three cell phones and $30,000 in Bahamian currency. He was arrested on a drug trafficking warrant issued by the Southern District of New York. Gardiner is being held in the Orange County Jail without bond. His lawyer tells Eyewitness News he plans to plead “not guilty” at his next court appearance.
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