Ex-Syracuse CBB Player Brendan Paul Arrested in Feds' Probe of Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Former Syracuse men's basketball player Brendan Paul was arrested on Monday in Miami and charged with felony counts of possession of cocaine and possession of a controlled substance, according to Jon Moss of Syracuse.com.

According to TMZ, the controlled substance was marijuana candy, which is illegal in the state of Florida.

Paul has been accused of being a drug mule for Sean "Diddy" Combs, the rapper and producer who had his homes in Los Angeles and Miami raided on Monday by federal authorities in an alleged human trafficking investigation.

Charges have not been filed against Combs.

According to Cheyenne Roundtree and Nancy Dillon of Rolling Stone, Paul was "recently named in a lawsuit filed by music producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones against Combs, in which Jones accused Paul of being Combs' 'mule,' allegedly 'acquir[ing] and distribut[ing] Mr. Combs drugs and guns.' A person close to the situation confirmed to Rolling Stone that Paul's mugshot was the same man named in Jones' complaint."

In that lawsuit, Jones said he "personally witnessed" Paul either transport or attempt to bring illegal drugs onto flights between Los Angeles, Miami, Virginia, the Caribbean and London on three separate occasions in 2022 and 2023.

Miami-Dade police arrested Paul at the Opa-Locka Airport while reportedly intercepting Combs' private plane. Arresting officers reported that Paul had "the contraband inside his personal travel bags... [and] the suspect cocaine was located and tested," per Rolling Stone.

Paul, 25, spent two seasons at Syracuse as a basketball walk-on before transferring to Fairmount State University in 2020, where he played his final two college seasons.