A UNITED States (U.S.) citizen, Joyce Ram De Cunha, 53, of Lot 55 East, Apartment 13, New York, was remanded to prison on Thursday by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.The defendant, who was busted with a quantity of cocaine concealed in fish at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on May 28 at the CJIA, Timehri, East Bank Demerara, she had possession of 3.498 kilogrammes of the narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah told the Court that De Cunha came to Guyana on April 9 and was an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight destined for New York.
Massiah said relative information was received and the woman was contacted when on-duty officers requested to carry out a search on her luggage.
She was told of the offence and, subsequently, arrested and charged after she was taken into CANU custody for further investigations.
During questioning, it was revealed that someone called ‘Fine man’ gave her the parcel to take to a man in New York and another was supposed to uplift it at the airport.
The prisoner was unrepresented and the case has been transferred to Providence Court, on the East Bank of Demerara, for June 2.

(By Geeta Rampersaud )