Two of the three men who were busted by CANU ranks with a quantity of cocaine last year were this morning sentenced to three and a half years and fined $11.7M after being found guilty of trafficking nearly six kilograms of cocaine. Meanwhile, the third man was set free.
Fifty-seven-year-old Aundre Singh, a businessman of Lot 779 Section B, Block X, Diamond Housing Scheme, and sixty-year-old Clifford Gouveia, a taxi driver of Lot 14 Little Abary, East Coast Demerara, cried uncontrollably upon hearing they were found guilty of trafficking the cocaine.
Meanwhile, the third defendant Oneal Charan of Lot 47 Sandy Babb Street, Kitty, Georgetown walked out the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts with a bright smile on his face upon hearing he was freed of the charge.
The sentences were handed down by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.
The men had denied the charge which stated that on October 3, 2018 at the Rupert Craig Highway in the vicinity of the Kitty seawall, between Pere Street and Queen Street, they had 5.582 kilograms of cocaine in their possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Attorney-at-law George Thomas, in a plea of mitigation for Singh, told the court that his client suffers for a medical condition which requires constant visits to the hospital. Meanwhile, attorney-at-law Bernard DaSilva asked for the minimum penalty for Gouveia, citing that his client is diabetic and also suffers from hypertension.
However, Custom Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Narissa Leander asked the court to impose the maximum sentence on the defendants, citing the nature of the offence, the quantity of the drugs, and prevalence of the offence.
In sentencing the men, the magistrate took into consideration the fact that the testimonies of all of the witnesses’ were deemed credible and the fact that the men had full control and knowledge of the illegal substance. The magistrate also took into consideration the effect of drugs on persons who use them and the impact on society. Hence, she imposed the custodial sentence on the defendants.
According to information, on the day in question CANU ranks intercepted the transfer of a box containing five suspected bricks of cocaine and beauty soaps between two cars. As a result, a total of 5.582 kilogrammes of cocaine was intercepted during the transfer.
