By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION officers posing as clients caught a Jamaican national performing unlicenced dental work in Grand Bahama during a sting operation, leading to his arrest after he attempted to flee.

Taval Noble, 25, of Kingston, Jamaica, was convicted and fined $1,500 yesterday after he pleaded guilty to practising dentistry without a licence and engaging in gainful occupation without a work permit.

He was cautioned and discharged for carrying out business without a licence.

Nearly a dozen dental instruments and supplies found in his possession were confiscated and ordered to be donated to the Public Hospitals Authority.

At the time of the offences, Noble was legally in the country.

On Wednesday, he was arraigned in the Eight Mile Rock Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Simone Brown. He was not represented by a lawyer.

In sentencing him, Magistrate Brown considered his early guilty pleas, which saved the court time.

Practising dentistry without a licence carries a maximum penalty of a $2,000 fine and/or 12 months imprisonment. Engaging in gainful employment without a work permit, a violation of the Immigration Act, carries the same penalty.

Magistrate Brown imposed a $1,000 fine or three months’ imprisonment for the first charge and a $500 fine or three months’ imprisonment for the other. 

According to reports, on February 21, officials received information that a Jamaican man had been applying cosmetic braces to people in Freeport.

Noble was also discovered on TikTok performing a dental procedure on a woman.

On Sunday, February 23, two undercover officers posing as potential clients visited an apartment in Mack Town, where Noble agreed to perform a dental procedure and accepted $400 in cash.

The officers observed various dental instruments and other items in the room. When they identified themselves as immigration officers, Noble attempted to flee but was subdued.

When asked to provide proof of his legal status, Noble produced his Jamaican passport. Records showed he had entered the country on October 28, 2024, and was granted a 30-day stay. Although he had received two extensions, he could not produce a valid work permit.

In court, Noble denied conducting medical procedures, insisting that his services were purely cosmetic.

“It was cosmetic braces, not medical braces. I tell them it’s cosmetic braces,” he said.

Magistrate Brown, however, emphasised the severity of his actions.

“This is a very serious thing,” she told him. “You were conducting yourself in a profession that requires not only tertiary education and proper medical training but also proper sanitisation. You could have exposed a person to infection. Do you realise that if someone gets an infection in their mouth, they could die? And you could be facing a much more serious offence.

“So a very stern message must be sent when we have persons pretending to be doctors, dentists, and lawyers. These are professions that require the trust of those who seek their services.”

The court prosecutor requested that all 11 confiscated items — including a scalpel, orthodontic wires, dental restorative kits, UV curing lights, pliers, Ortho Bonding kits, and other supplies — be donated to a local clinic.

An immigration officer informed the court that Noble had $980. The officer requested that $400 — the amount used by undercover officers — be returned.

Magistrate Brown ordered the return of the monies to immigration officials and ruled that all confiscated items be forfeited to the Crown and donated to the Public Hospitals Authority for distribution to clinics in Grand Bahama. 

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story noted that the sting was conducted by police officers. It was carried out by immigration officers.