***MEDIA RELEASE***

Turks and Caicos, September 26th, 2024 – Following investigations, detectives of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force have charged CARLOS USHER HIGGS with several offences.

Mr. Higgs, 20, of Five Cays, Providenciales, faces the following charges:

* One Count Gang Membership, Contrary to Section 4(1) (b) of the Anti-Gang Ordinance;
* One Count Robbery;
* One Count Kidnapping;
* One Count Possession of Imitation of Firearm.

The charges stemmed from an incident on Friday 21st, September 2024.

Mr Higgs remains in custody pending a court date.

Turks and Caicos, September 26th 2024 – DEVARDO FULFORD, 31, has been charged with ONE COUNT BURGLARY.

Mr. Fulford is on $10,000 bail and expected to appear before a Magistrate on September 30, 2024.

The accused was arrested by officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force on September 12th, 2024, following a report of an incident at Long Bay Hills, Providenciales, on August 31st, 2024.

Following investigations, Mr. Fulford was charged on September 23, 2024.

Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

USA, September 21, 2024 – Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with serious sex offenses from a 14-page indictment, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday evening, with allegations of running a criminal enterprise from at least 2008 that relied on drugs and violence to force women to “fulfill his sexual desires”, according to prosecutors. A New York federal judge remanded the musician in custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.

If convicted on all three counts, the rapper and record producer faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison. Asked by US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky how he wished to plead, Mr. Combs stood up and said: “not guilty”.

According to court documents, Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims, to engage in extended sex acts” called “Freak Offs”. During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims “obedient and compliant,” the indictment said.

In a news briefing, US prosecutor Damian Williams said officials found firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Mr. Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, about six months ago. Mr. Williams said federal agents also found three semi-automatic rifles with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine.

He told reporters that further charges were possible, without offering details.

Mr. Agnifilo, the musician’s lawyer, maintained, “there’s no coercion and no crime.”

“He’s not afraid of the charges,” he said, adding that he believed Mr. Combs was the target of “an unjust prosecution”.

In court documents, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.

Prosecutors accuse Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members – under his direction – engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson and bribery.

“On numerous occasions”, the documents said, Mr. Combs assaulted women by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.

The indictment did not specify how many women were alleged victims.

It also does not accuse Mr. Combs himself of engaging directly in unwanted sexual acts with women.

Last November, his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him that included graphic descriptions of violent abuse.

Sean “Diddy” Combs denied the accusations, but settled the case a day after it was filed.