Nationwide News can reveal that confessed gun trafficker and dancehall producer, Countree Hype, was on the radar of local and United States law enforcement before he was caught smuggling 30 guns to Jamaica, last year.
Countree Hype’s given name is Taugea Ubert Dayes.
The prosecution of the 33-year-old was highlighted by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason A. Reding Quiñones in a statement last week.
William Mitchell reports.
Countree Hype is among the most recognisable names in dancehall music. His record label was formed in 2017.
Since then he’s worked with some of dancehall’s biggest names including, Intence, Alkaline, Konshens and Kraff.
But according to law enforcement sources, Countree Hype – a trained cook and nurse – has also been supplying gangs across Jamaica with illegal guns.
Countree Hype ended up in court after a shipment of guns was intercepted in Kingston, Jamaica on March 18, 2025.
In a statement, the Jamaica Constabulary Force said 24 hand guns, six rifles, 32 magazines and 102 rounds of ammunition were seized. US prosecutors say those guns were packaged and shipped by the producer.
Countree Hype has pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling goods from the US and one count of delivering a firearm to a common carrier without written notice.
In his guilty plea, Countree Hype confessed that on March 10 last year he sewed the guns into the cushions of five office chairs. He shipped them from a company in Miami under the name Jamie Roberts.
Travel records indicate Countree Hype flew to Jamaica on the same day. Eight days later the package was seized in Jamaica.
Federal authorities say they were able to identify Countree Hype because an investigator recognised him from surveillance footage from the shipping company. The investigator alleged Countree Hype was involved in a traffic stop during a separate firearm investigation.
Investigators also discovered that he was linked to six other shipments to Jamaica over the previous six months. They did not say if those were gun shipments.
Sources say Countree Hype is a major player in Jamaica’s black market for illegal guns. Authorities have also linked him to two gangs operating in Jamaica; the Taliban gang from central Kingston and the Diplomats gang from his home parish of Manchester.
Countree Hype was arrested on August 11, and granted bail in the sum of US$150,000 three days later.
His trial was set to start in September 2025, but was delayed several times. He pleaded guilty on March 17 this year.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and automatic deportation at the end of the sentence. But his attorney says given his client’s guilty plea, he should serve only three years prison time and then be deported.
Addressing his legal troubles publicly for the first time last week, Countree Hype hit out at what he says are negative comments.
His sentencing date is to be determined.
