Drug recruiter begs for mercy; gets 4 years instead
Kelvin Sauers called ‘John’
Kelvin Sauers called ‘John’

TWO weeks after a 19-year-old girl was jailed for swallowing cocaine pellets, her alleged recruiter was on Thursday sentenced to four years jail with a $3.3M fine after pleading guilty to trafficking over three pounds of cocaine.

Kelvien Sauers known as John appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court after recently turning himself over to the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) following a wanted bulletin for his arrest.

Sauers admitted that on July 6, 2018 at Enterprise, East Coast Demerara he trafficked 1.608 kilograms of cocaine which was in his possession.

The unrepresented 23-year-old mason begged the court for leniency since he had a two-year-old son and was the sole breadwinner for his family.

Nineteen-year-old Anisha Hardy

CANU prosecutor Konyo Sandiford noted that officers were able to make the bust at Saurers’ Enterprise home following the arrest of Anisha Hardy, who was arrested at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on July 6 after allegedly consuming 119 cocaine pellets.
The teen was later placed before a city court and sentenced to three years’ jail along with a $1.4M fine. The teenager had confessed that Sauers had given her the drugs and provided an address where she met with him and was given the drugs.

When CANU officer arrived at the Enterprise home later that day on July 6, Saurers was seen jumping from the window and escaping.

The home was searched and a haversack was found with 279 pellets of cocaine which amounted to 1.608 kilograms of cocaine along with the instrument used to make the pellets.

Subsequently, an arrest warrant was issued for Sauers and his relative Mark Sauers called ‘Marco.’ On July 24, Kelvien Sauers turned himself over to ranks at CANU while the charge was dropped against his relative.

Before sentencing, Magistrate Hugh noted that based upon the prosecution’s facts, the crime committed was well organised since it involved a 19-year-old teen ingesting illicit drugs.

Kelvien Sauers was sentenced to four years’ jail with a fine of three times the market value of the drug which was $3.3M.

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 take 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.”

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