A 19-year-old ‘drug mule’ who had swallowed 119 cocaine pellets was on Wednesday sentenced to three years’ jail along with a $1.4M fine as the hunt continues for her two known drug recruiters.

Anisha Hardy appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and confessed that on July 6 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, she trafficked 702 grams of cocaine.
Hardy was unrepresented by an attorney and showed no remorse as the charge was being read to her.

According to Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) prosecutor Konyo Sandiford, on the day in question Hardy was an outgoing passenger on an airplane destined for JFK, New York.
Sandiford however noted that while the teen was checking in at the CJIA airport she was confronted by a female CANU officer, who was acting on information that the teen had ingested cocaine pellets.

The teen was cautioned and was taken to a hospital and subjected to an X-ray, which showed that she had foreign objects in her stomach.

Sandiford further told the court that within three days the teen excreted a total of 119 cocaine pellets and gave a caution statement to the police naming her drug recruiters.
“This is a side incident of the living standards of the teen taken advantage of by a seasoned narcotics trafficker,” the prosecutor told the court during a mitigation plea.
The teen, after the magistrate had considered the mitigation plea from the prosecutor, was sentenced to three years jail along with a fine of $1.4M.

CANU has issued warrants for the arrest of Mark Sauers called ‘Marcus’ or ‘Marco’ of Lot 1 Ogle, East Coast Demerara and Second Street, Liliendaal, Georgetown and his cousin, Kelvin Sauers, called John, of Fourth Street, Success, ECD, who allegedly recruited the teen to traffic the drugs.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of the two men is kindly asked to make contact with CANU headquarters at 227-3507 or 226-0431.
In 2015, Mark Sauers, who was charged with another man with trafficking over 15 kilos of cocaine at Beterverwagting, on the East Coast of Demerara, was remanded to prison yesterday by a city magistrate.

The charges against Sauers and Bacchus state that the duo procured Jallalodeen along with Kathleen De Florimonte and Odessa Pollard to traffic cocaine between April 1 and May 19, 2016, and between July 1 and November 5, 2015.
However, the matter was dismissed due to the witnesses not wanting to offer evidence in the case.

Also in 2015, Mark Sauers was charged with the offence of conspiracy to traffic narcotics.
It is alleged that Sauers between January 01, 2014 and January 17, 2014 at Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, conspired with Jermaine Lowe to traffic 15.308 KG cocaine.
Earlier this month, a 37-year-old drug mule was also sentenced to three years ‘jail after confessing to trafficking cocaine, subsequent to being arrested by CANU at the airport.
Natasha Blair of Grove Housing Scheme was sentenced by the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for trafficking 532 grams of cocaine at CJIA.

Blair was also an outgoing passage on a Caribbean Airlines flight destined for JFK International Airport, New York and was travelling with her 11-month-old daughter.
However, while checking in at the CJIA, she was nabbed by a CANU officer and was taken to a city hospital and subjected to an X-ray which showed foreign objects in her stomach and pelvic area. She excreted 32 pellets containing cocaine which weighed 322 grams and 210 grams was extracted from her vagina.

The prosecutor added that Blair told ranks in a caution statement that she did it because she needed the money for herself and her child.

Her attorney Keoma Griffith during his plea for mitigation told the court: “These situations are very prevalent, my client is a single parent and had to make difficult decisions and an unfortunate risk.”

Earlier this year, CANU had issued a statement following another teen being busted at the CJIA airport and noted that “irrespective of life’s challenges civilians must recognise that the narcotic trade must never be an option. The narcotic trade is harmful to the traffickers, its users and everyone connected to them.”