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A high school teacher from Florida has pleaded guilty to her role in a transnational firearms smuggling operation linked to a criminal organisation based in Trinidad and Tobago.

Shannon Lee Samlalsingh, 46, of Tampa, appeared before a U.S. court on June 20 and admitted to making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer. According to a statement from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Samlalsingh now faces up to five years in federal prison.

Between 2020 and 2021, Samlalsingh allegedly purchased a range of firearms and firearm components from dealers in Hillsborough County and Miami-Dade County. Federal investigators say she filed multiple ATF Form 4473s, claiming she was the buyer of the weapons, while she was in fact acting on instructions from members of a Trinidadian criminal enterprise.