TWO Guyanese nationals on Monday admitted to possession, trafficking and importation of 14.5 kg of cocaine and 2.0 kg of cannabis in a Barbados High Court.

The two men, who were identified as Coco Profitt and Paul Fraser, appeared before High Court judge Madam Justice Jacqueline Cornelius, who has ordered pre-sentencing reports into the lives of the two men. The defendants were represented by Attorney-at-law Samuel Legay, while Principal Crown Counsel Anthony Blackman was the prosecutor on the case.

Blackman told the court that the men were not known to the island’s justice system, while their lawyer told the judge he would mitigate on his clients’ behalf following the delivery of the report which is expected on April 24.

Blackman, in his presentation to the court, disclosed that police, acting on information, boarded the Lady Sandra boat at the Bridgetown Port on September 10, 2015. A search was conducted by the lawmen after speaking with the captain. The prosecutor told the court that ten packages containing a white substance suspected to be cocaine and four packages containing vegetable matter, suspected to be cannabis, were found at various points on the vessel. The substances were later tested and confirmed to have been cocaine and cannabis.

After the discovery was made, the captain and the two Guyanese men were taken to the Oistins Police Station where they were asked to account for the drugs.

“I tek a risk and try to bring in weed and cocaine. I was trying to get some money. I am in some financial problems and I owe a lot of people money,” Profitt reportedly told lawmen at the time.

On the other hand, Fraser related that: “I was trying to make some money.”

Fraser also detailed the series of events which led to his arrest, and it was documented in his written statement. He revealed that on September 7, 2015, he boarded the Lady Sandra at Fernandes Wharf in Guyana, after receiving a telephone call from the owner whom he identified as “Vicky”. He said that Vicky asked him to make the trip to Barbados where they were supposed to deliver cement.

After the vessel departed, Fraser said he passed through the kitchen where he noticed a brown bag and three black plastic bags by a flour shelf, but he did not know what was in them at the time. The ship’s captain subsequently informed the crew that the Barbados Coast Guard would search the ship on arrival, so they should get rid of anything they had onboard.

He said that he subsequently went on the bridge where he worked, and the cook, who he knew only as Profitt, approached him and asked him to hide something. Fraser in his statement said he questioned what it was and Profitt reportedly said it was cocaine and weed and that on reaching Barbados “he [Profitt] got money to give me.”

It was reported that the cook then left and came back ten minutes later with the bags Fraser had previously seen. Fraser further revealed in his statement that he and a man named “Strongman” examined the bag and saw nine packages, which they took and placed under the anchor motor, along with the brown bag. The other bags were hidden behind drawers in the engine room, he said.

However, when they reached the Bridgetown Port, lawmen found the drugs when they conducted a search of the vessel.

(Reworked from Barbados Today)