This is the dramatic moment Sean 'Diddy' Combs' alleged drug mule was taken into custody by police at a Miami-area airport.
Brendan Paul, 25, was arrested by Miami-Dade Police and Homeland Security agents at Opa-Locka Executive Airport on Monday afternoon while 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 out of a Border Protection building and into a police car.
Paul, who played two years on the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team, is charged with felony cocaine possession and marijuana possession.
He is being held at 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 custody by police at a Miami-area airport
Paul, who played two years on the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team, is charged with felony cocaine possession and marijuana possession
Combs’ lawyer said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s properties by federal authorities were 'a gross use of military-level force'
The former athlete was referred to as Diddy's 'drug mule' in a $30million lawsuit Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones filed against Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs.
The complaint, one of five against Cobs since November, alleged he was involved in 'acquir[ing] and distribut[ing] Mr Combs drugs and guns'.
Whether Paul's arrest was connected to allegations in the lawsuit, or to the raids on Diddy's properties, was not confirmed.
Jones claimed in the lawsuit that he 'personally witnessed' Paul 'acquire and distribute' drugs to Combs and his entourage, and transport or intend to transport drugs in baggage on flights.
He wrote the flights were between Los Angeles, Miami, Virginia, the Caribbean, and London three times in December 2022, April 2023 and November 2023.
Combs’ lawyer said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s properties 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 scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent month
The former athlete was referred to as Diddy's 'drug mule' in a $30million lawsuit Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones filed against Diddy. They are seen together
Armed agents entered luxury properties on both East and West Coasts of the United States
Agents descended on 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 at their father’s residence in Los Angeles.
King, 25, is a musician whose song 'Can’t Stop Won’t Stop' with Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.
Along with a heavy presence of officers, command trucks were parked outside both properties.
The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months.
In a lawsuit Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protégé and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.
Combs and his attorneys have denied all of the lawsuits’ allegations.
