The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged U.S. Coast Guard Commander James Heyward Silcox III on Wednesday with illegally importing controlled substances, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King, Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge Kelly Hoyle, and Customs and Border Protection Director of Field Operations Brian J. Humphrey.
According to the complaint, Silcox, 41, of Alameda, Calif., is alleged to have illegally imported Tramadol from Singapore and Germany. Tramadol is a Schedule IV controlled substance and narcotic.
The complaint describes three illegal shipments of Tramadol to Silcox from overseas. In July 2019, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the JFK International Air Mail Facility inspected a package from Singapore that contained approximately 865 grams of Tramadol. In August 2019, CBP officers at the San Francisco Air Mail Facility intercepted a package from Germany that contained 650 tablets containing Tramadol. On September 13, 2019, CBP officers in the San Francisco Air Mail Facility intercepted a package from Singapore that contained 458 grams of Tramadol. All three packages were addressed to post office boxes held by Silcox.
The complaint alleges that law enforcement officers removed the Tramadol from the August package and delivered it with substitute material to Silcox’s post office box on September 16, 2019. The same day, Silcox picked up the package.
Silcox was arrested September 17, 2019, at Coast Guard Island, in Alameda. He made his initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco this morning and was released on a personal recognizance bond. Silcox’s next scheduled appearance is at 10:30 a.m. on September 26, 2019, for identification of counsel and a preliminary hearing before the Honorable Kandis A. Westmore, U.S. Magistrate Judge.
Read more at the U.S. Attorney’s Office
