THE trial of motorcycle racer Stephen Vieira and three other men, including a former customs official, commenced on Tuesday with the testimony of the main witness.

Former Customs Officer Sherwayne De Abreu of Street Eight Section ‘A’ Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown; Vieira of Middle Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown; businessman Tazim Gafoor and his son, Nazim Gafoor, a motor car racer, both of Menzies Street, Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara are on trial for aiding Hakim Mohamed to traffic 84.986 kilograms of cocaine between March 1 and May 2, 2017.

The main witness, Hakim Mohamed, was the first person to take the stand before Magistrate Rushelle Liverpool in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court on behalf of Customs Anti-narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor, Kunyo Sandiford
The men are being represented by Attorney at Law Latchmie Rahamat; Everton Lammy-Singh, Glenn Hanoman and Nigel Hughes.

Mohamed started his testimony by explaining that he was employed by Narine Lall (who is still on the run from the CANU in relation to the matter) as a wood-cutter at his sawmill at Parika Lookout, East Bank Essequibo.

The witness under oath told the court that on several occasions he saw Tazim Gafoor at the sawmill and Lall explained that Gafoor was his business partner.
According to Mohamed, before the Easter holidays, two individuals came to the sawmill while Tazim was there and brought a black garbage bag.
He said Tazim emptied the bag and 65 square brick-like parcels wrapped in black plastic with white tape fell out.

“I opened the plastic and the thing inside was white,” the witness said as he explained that Tazim told him that the substance was cocaine.
He further detailed that Tazim took the cocaine into a room at the sawmill and only he alone had a key for the door.
Two weeks before Easter 2017, Mohamed recalled a fine Negro man in a white Premio motor car came with a black garbage bag to the sawmill, while Tazim was there with the same brick-like white substance.

As before, Mohamed noted Tazim empty the bag. There were 15 parcels of the brick-like white substance. The witness further recalled that Tazim told him that the fine negro man’s name was ‘John Corby’ and took the parcels into the room in the sawmill.
“About a week later, a next guy came to the sawmill in a white car and brought 19 brick-like things in a black bag. Tazim counted them and put them in the room and lock it,” the witness said.

In court, Mohamed disclosed that it was Sherwayne De Abreu who had brought the 19 packets of the alleged drug.
He explained that Stephen Vieira called ‘White Boy,’ was present when the wood was being cut. The witness stressed that Lall bought 400 BMs of wood and asked him to carve out the inside.

“It get a machine that is dig out the middle of the wood and it does become hallow” he said. Days later, Mohamed along with Tazim and a man named “Rasta” packed the cocaine inside the holes.
On May 12, 2017, half of the lumber was taken by a truck to the Guyana National Industrial Corporation wharf where it was examined by a customs officer while the rest remained on another truck at the lumber yard.

Mohamed added that Vieira met him at the wharf where he was informed that the other truck had broken down. Mohammed related that he went back to the second truck at the sawmill road and was in the process of offloading the lumber from the second truck when he was busted by CANU ranks.

The trial has been adjourned until February 7 with Mohamed still giving evidence.
The four defendants are currently out on $5M bail each, which was granted by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire in the High Court.
They were first charged and remanded on May 30, 2017.

According to reports, the bust was made after CANU officials received a tip-off on May 12 last year. When the ranks acted, the boards were being packed onto a truck.
The truck driver and porters were arrested but were subsequently released after it was discovered that the vehicle and its workers were hired to transport the timber.

The drug agency in a release said that ranks conducted a search at the parapet in front of the premises of Mohamed and searched a truck laden with several pallets of 1×6 dressed lumber boards prepared for export. Several pieces of boards were drilled randomly by the ranks and a whitish substance was revealed (cocaine).

The lumber was packed at a sawmill located at Lookout, East Bank Essequibo, belonging to Narine Lall to be transported to a wharf in Georgetown and then shipped to the United States of America, CANU stated.

According to reports, Vieira is listed on the shipping documents as a representative of the shipper, Lall. An arrest warrant has been issued for Lall According to CANU. Tazim was placed before the court, charged for his role in another cocaine matter.

The 43-year-old man was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice last year September, following the discovery of over nine kilograms of cocaine.