- Brendan Paul, 25, was arrested at Opa-Locka Airport on Monday afternoon
- The former athlete was called Diddy’s “drug mule” in a $30 million lawsuit
This is the dramatic moment Sean “Diddy” Combs’ alleged drug mule was taken into police custody at a Miami-area airport.
Brendan Paul, 25, was arrested by Miami-Dade Police and Homeland Security officers at Opa-Locka Airport on Monday afternoon as authorities raided the rapper’s mansions in South Florida and Los Angeles as part of a sex trafficking investigation .
Bodycam footage of the arrest obtained by NB6 shows Paul wearing a blue and white hoodie as he is led from a Border Protection building to a police car.
Paul, who played for two years on the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team, is charged with cocaine possession and marijuana possession.
He is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami on two $2,500 bonds.
This is the dramatic moment Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ alleged drug mule Brendan Paul was taken into police custody at a Miami-area airport
Paul, who played for two years on the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team, is charged with cocaine possession and marijuana possession
Combs’ attorney said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s property by federal authorities were “a gross application of military-level force.”
The former athlete was dubbed Diddy’s “drug mule” in a $30 million lawsuit filed by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones against Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs.
The complaint, one of five against Cobs since November, alleged that he was involved in “acquiring and distributing Mr. Combs drugs and weapons.”
Whether Paul’s arrest was related to allegations in the lawsuit or to the raids on Diddy’s property was not confirmed.
Jones alleged in the lawsuit that he “personally witnessed” Paul “acquiring and distributing” drugs to Combs and his entourage, and transporting or planning to transport drugs in luggage on flights.
He wrote that the flights took place three times between Los Angeles, Miami, Virginia, the Caribbean and London, in December 2022, April 2023 and November 2023.
Combs’ attorney said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s property by federal authorities were “a gross use of military-level force” and that Combs “is innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.
The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the investigation into Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in the past month.
The former athlete was called Diddy’s “drug mule” in a $30 million lawsuit filed against Diddy by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones. They are seen together
Armed agents entered luxury properties on both the east and west coasts of the United States
Agents responded to his properties in Miami and Los Angeles as part of their investigation into alleged sex trafficking
Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian “King” Combs, were handcuffed during the raid on their father’s Los Angeles home.
King, 25, is a musician whose song “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” featuring Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.
In addition to a large officer presence, command vehicles were parked in front of both properties.
The criminal investigation marks a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the suspect in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months.
In a lawsuit that Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protégé and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him for years of sexual abuse, including rape. According to the lawsuit, he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging that Combs forced him to recruit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Another accuser of Combs was a woman who said the rap producer raped her 20 years ago when she was 17.
Combs and his attorneys have denied all allegations in the lawsuits.