International reggae superstar Buju Banton is facing the fight of his life with the revelation that United States drug enforcement agents have recordings of his participation in a cocaine deal.

Buju has been arrested on charges of dealing in illegal drugs and could spend more than 20 years in a federal prison in the US if he is found guilty.

The reggae star is scheduled to appear in court in Tampa, Florida, tomorrow for the first round of what attorney-at-law and University of Miami Professor David Rowe says could be a lengthy trial.

“I think that if he is intelligent and he approaches the case properly, he could get a result that would not end his career, and that would put him in a position where he might be able, in a relatively short period of time, to come out,” Rowe told The Gleaner yesterday.

The veteran attorney was responding to the affidavit made public yesterday by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

In the affidavit, the DEA alleges that Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, and two others “knowingly and wilfully conspire and agree with each other and with others unknown to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine”.

Read More…