SIXTY – two year old Dennis Albert Jones, a convicted drug trafficker, found himself before the court again on Tuesday, charged with attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Guyana.

Back in 2012, Jones pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in jail after he was busted attempting to ship over 700 pounds of cocaine to Niger in Africa.  The cocaine was hidden in soap powder packets.

Jones of Caneview, South Ruimveldt Gardens, Georgetown, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrate’s court on Tuesday and was also charged with forging an identification card in favor of himself.

The first charge alleged that on January 18, 2017, at the General Post Office Corporation, he had 10.618kg of cocaine, which he attempted to post out of Guyana for the purpose of trafficking. Anti-narcotics agents intercepted a box containing total of 9 kilos in Baking / Custard powder bags and 1.62 kilos of liquid cocaine in two Banko wine bottles found in a mail destined for Canada. The package was due to leave Guyana on January 20 via a Fly Jamaica flight in mail consignment.

It is further alleged that between September 1, 2016 and September 30, 2016 in Georgetown, with intent to defraud, Jones forged a national identification card in the name of Josiah Jones knowing it to be false.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor, Kunyo Sandiford objected to bail and noted that Jones provided a written caution statement where he admitted to the offense.

She further added that no special reason was given for the defendant to be released on bail and the fact remains that he is a repeat offender.

Meanwhile, Police Prosecutor Melville Jeffers also objected to Jones being granted bail on the forgery charge. He said that the ID card has a photograph of the defendant in the name of ‘Josiah Jones’ and that he admitted to forging same to the police. The court heard that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) confirmed that the ID card is indeed a fake one.

Bail was denied and he will return to court on February 14, 2017.  Jones, who was also deported from the United States for drug trafficking, was arrested last Friday evening by CANU agents in the South Ruimveldt home hiding in the ceiling after they busted a package containing cocaine that was being shipped to Canada among other items.