An office assistant attached to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court was on Thursday intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri attempting to smuggle cocaine to the Cayman Islands.
Terry De Fretias, 29, was detained by members of the Custom Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) after ranks detected the drugs on him. He later admitted to ingesting an undisclosed amount of cocaine pellets. He is currently under guards at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where he was given a laxative to excrete the pellets.
According to information, De Fretias was about to board a Caribbean Airlines Flight destined for the Cayman Islands, and was expected to be in-transit at Barbados and Jamaica when he was busted. Guyana Times understands that upon examining the man’s luggage, it contained two pairs of jeans, an unusual occurrence for someone who was going on vacation. This spurred some speculations amongst CANU ranks and a probe was carried out.
He was questioned about the jeans and told investigators that he was going to meet his fiancé in the Cayman Islands. During further interrogation, he had initially refused to cooperate, but later opened up to investigators allegedly admitting to swallowing 87 pellets. He told investigators he had pawned his motor car for $800,000, and invested the money with cocaine worth US$5000.
A number of persons have been busted at the airport trying to smuggle cocaine though the swallowing method. Earlier in the year, 21-year-old Nishit Patel, a British citizen was intercepted by members of the Custom Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) at the CJIA after he confessed to ingesting 30 pellets containing cocaine.
He was taken into CANU custody after complaining about feeling unwell. He was later searched, during which time he confessed to swallowing the illegal substance. He had excreted 29. During their investigations, it was proven that Patel was due to leave Guyana on December 31 in an in-transit flight through St Lucia, before departing for the United Kingdom. Further information disclosed that Patel came to Guyana under the pretext of spending the holidays with family, but there is no evidence that can substantiate his claims as he does not have any Guyanese roots. His mother and father are both Indian nationals who migrated to the United Kingdom years ago.
He was charged with trafficking in narcotics and was sentenced to four years imprisonment with a $30,000 fine. As recent as two Wednesdays ago, CANU and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard Unit intercepted a fishing vessel in the Demerara River with more than $145 million worth in cocaine and compressed Marijuana.
According to reports, CANU officials acting on information received by the GDF Coast Guard Unit, intercepted the Bismark 2 which belongs to a Chinese national at mid-steam, with 104 kilogrammes (kg) of compressed marijuana, and 27 kg of cocaine.
Five persons were charged but pleaded not guilty to trafficking in narcotics, and were remanded to prison.