THE trial of motorcycle racer Stephen Vieira and three other men, including a former customs official, for trafficking cocaine has been adjourned until March 19, 2018.

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 men are being represented by attorneys-at-Law Latchmie Rahamat, Everton Lammy-Singh, Glen Hanoman and Nigel Hughes.
The matter is being presided over by Magistrate Rushelle Liverpool in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court with evidence being led by Customs Anti-narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor, Kunyo Sandiford.

Main witnesses, Hakim Mohamed and CANU officer Linden Thompson have already completed their testimonies in court and were cross-examined by defence counsel.
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, dressed lumber 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 on 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, belonging to Narine Lall, was packed at a sawmill located at Lookout, East Bank Essequibo, 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.