–over cocaine-in-salt-fish ‘bust’

A LOCAL shipper and another man were on Thursday remanded to prison on drug trafficking charges in connection with the recent discovery of a quantity of cocaine hidden in the bones of salted fish. The discovery was made at the cargo shed of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), at Timehri, East Bank Demerara, and saw Navindra Sarwan, called ‘Tallman’, a 46-year-old shipper of First Field, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and Adrian David, 40, of Shell Road, Kitty, appear before Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court on the East Bank of Demerara on Thursday and plead “not guilty” to the offence.
Particulars of the charge allege that on either March 7 or 8, 2021, and between First Field, Cummings Lodge, and the Amerijet Cargo Shed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the duo attempted to traffick 3.304 kilogrammes of cocaine.
According to said particulars, during the period in question, David supplied Sarwan, a licensed shipper, with a quantity of “sawfish”, a type of shark, to be shipped to Miami, in the USA.

On March 8, Sarwan reportedly presented the salted fish along with other fresh fish to a Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officer for examination.
But as the CANU officer began probing the backbone of the salted fish, a whitish substance began to appear, which, when subjected to a field test, indicated the presence of cocaine. In the circumstance, Sarwan was taken to CANU headquarters along with the shipment, which, when further examined, yielded a total of 280 pencil-like objects containing cocaine from the backbone of the fish. When weighed, the cocaine reportedly amounted to 3.304 kilogrammes.
David was subsequently arrested at his home, which, when searched, uncovered a replica of the said pencil-like object in which the cocaine was concealed in his ‘fridge.’ David is reportedly no stranger to the law, as he was jailed back in 2013 for attempting to smuggle cocaine in drinking straws, while Sarwan, no saint himself, was among several men arrested by CANU back in 2018 in connection with a quantity of cocaine found strapped under a vehicle in the CJIA compound.
He was, however, released, since there was insufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
Based on the nature and gravity of the current charges, Magistrate Latchman remanded the duo to prison until April 15.