Court told…
Busted women cocaine traffickers were recruited in Canada
By Telesha Persaud
TWO Canadian women traffickers ingested cocaine pellets here but were busted when they tried to depart Guyana, a Court heard yesterday.

Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson heard the narrative from Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah.

Before the magistrate, at the time, were Brittani Shand, 20, of Lot 59 Annapolis Way, Ontario, Canada and the alleged mastermind in a drug ring, Walter Remingon Aaron, 37, of Lot 37 Robb Street, Lacytown, Georgetown.

Aaron and Shand were charged separately and both pleaded not guilty.

The charge against Aaron said, last June 22, he had in possession 1.28 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Shand was jointly charged with the other female Canadian, Tanya Mohammed, 20, who is still in hospital undergoing surgery to excrete pellets she also swallowed, said attorney-at-law Mr. Vic Puran, who is representing the women.

Shand and Mohammed allegedly, on June 23, had 1.28 grammes of cocaine at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, East Bank Demerara, for exportation.

Massiah related that Shand and Mohammed are citizens of Canada, who are students and part-time waitresses.

The Prosecutor said the two were recruited in Canada and sent to Guyana to contact Aaron and others and take the narcotic back.

PAID

Massiah revealed that each recruit was to be paid Cdn$6,000.

He said, on arrival in Guyana on June 17, Shand and Mohammed were received at CJIA by Aaron and another man, who took them to stay at a cousin of Aaron’s.

The women were later taken to a city hotel where they stayed until June 23, Massiah disclosed.

He said, on June 23, Aaron and the other man went to the women’s hotel room, in company with another woman, taking two bags, one containing a jar of butter and a bottle of honey, as well as a small basket with taped cocaine pellets.

Massiah said Aaron and his male companion gave Shand and Mohammed the pellets, coated with butter and honey, to swallow.

But the women experienced difficulties with the swallowing and complained. However, the men threatened to burn their passports and kill their families in Canada, if they did not go through with the arrangement, Massiah said.

According to him, the men left their female accomplice to supervise the ingestion and she dispensed the pellets in small quantities.

Massiah said Shand and Mohammed pretended to ingest the tablets but hid some in their suitcases and flushed some down in the toilet.

The Prosecutor said Shand and Mohammed travelled to CJIA with a taxi and checked in for Caribbean Airlines flight BW 662 to Piarco, with onward connections.

CANU Officer Lennox Richmond, who was on duty in the external scanner area, observed the strange objects in the two suitcases and a check in them revealed 59 pellets in Mohamed’s and 61 in Shand’s, Massiah said.

SURGERY

He said, at that point, they admitted that they had swallowed the pellets and were sent to a hospital where Shand passed out four and Mohammed three, after surgery.

Massiah said, on June 30, Aaron was arrested and, at CANU Headquarters, he was positively identified by the women defendants and confessed to receiving them at CJIA but denied giving them the pellets.

Other attorney-at-law Mr. Glen Hanoman, representing him, said Aaron is a father of four and a private taxi driver, who sings and records his own music.

The lawyer said Aaron’s music advocates the abhorrence of drug use and the basis of the charge is the allegation by Shand and Mohammed who are trying to save their own necks.

Puran said Mohammed had to be hospitalised because the pellets were floating in her stomach and she willingly submitted to surgery.

He claimed that Shand and Mohammed are in the process of entering into a plea bargain and will adopt a certain course, if the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who is presently out of the country, is inclined to go with their proposal.

Shand will make her next appearance at Providence Court, also on East Bank Demerara, to where her case has been transferred for July 10 but Aaron must return before Magistrate Robertson, on July 9.

Until those dates, Shand and Aaron have been remanded to prison.