BRITISHER JAILED
– fined for drug trafficking
BRITISH citizen Nishit Nitin Patel, 21, was sentenced to four years imprisonment yesterday for drug trafficking. He pleaded guilty to the offence before Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and admitted swallowing 29 cocaine pellets, equivalent to 352 grammes.
Patel, whose address was given as Lot 18 Atlee Close, Thornton Heath, London, England, was unrepresented by counsel and particulars of the charge said, last December 31, at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, East Bank Demerara, he was in possession of the narcotic for the purpose.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor, Oswald Massiah said the defendant came to Guyana on December 27 and lodged at the Sunflower Hotel on South Road, Georgetown.
Four days later, Patel was on his way back to London on a flight that was scheduled to leave Guyana around 07:00 hrs but it was cancelled, causing the defendant to book another that was leaving about 11:00 hrs.
During his wait at the airport, the prosecutor said a CANU officer observed that Patel was looking “strange” and “uncomfortable” and, subsequently, called him for questioning. It was then that the passenger confessed to ingesting the prohibited substance.
Patel was then taken to a city hospital, where he excreted 29 pellets.
Massiah pointed out that authorities were in possession of records that showed that Patel travelled to Guyana last November and had stayed at the same hotel.
Asked, in court, whether he wished to say anything, Patel said he was going through “hard times” back home and that his mother was about to be “kicked out” of her home because she could not pay her rent.
“So I came down here to make some money and help her out,” Patel said.
Among the things the magistrate said she took into consideration, before imposing sentence was the fact that the prisoner is a young man seeking to help his mother.
But he also needs to bear in mind the consequences of his actions, the magistrate said, as she also fined Patel $30,000.