Now accused of being a primary supplier of cocaine to Trinidad, Barbados, St Maarten and Canada, Guyanese businessman Peter Morgan, who US drug enforcement officials held at Piarco airport on Friday, was refused bail yesterday pending an extradition hearing.
Head of the Central Authority Unit (CAU) in the Ministry of the Attorney-General attorney David West told the court yesterday that Morgan was a primary cocaine supplier to Trinidad, Barbados, St Maarten and Canada and that between October 2001 and 2003 the Guyanese trafficked in between 15 kilos and 100 kilos of cocaine to these countries and the US.
However, Morgan, 46, of Oleander Gardens, George-town has not been formally charged with committing any offence in Trinidad.
The motor racer, who appeared Chief Magistrate Sherman Nicholls in Port of Spain yesterday, was refused bail and remanded to prison until Monday.
Morgan was arrested on a provisional arrest warrant by US drug agents working with Trinidad authorities on Friday afternoon at Piarco Inter-national Airport, just days after an indictment was unsealed in a New York court charging him with three counts of drug conspiracy.
West told the court yesterday that the Trinidadian authorities are awaiting certain documentation from the US Government before the process of extraditing Morgan commences. He said that they would likely be ready in a month’s time. West told the court that Morgan should not get bail because of the seriousness of the offences he is facing.
According to the provisional arrest warrant, which this newspaper has seen, on the first count, between October 1,2001 and August 31, 2003, Morgan allegedly knowingly and intentionally conspired with David Narine, Susan Narine, Hung Fung Mar and persons unknown to import cocaine. The second count said that during the same period, Morgan imported cocaine into the US, which is against the law of that country and that the offence is an extraditable offence as defined in Section 6 of the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act 1985 as amended in 2004.
West outlined in court that T&T has an established extradition treaty with the US. He said over the years Trinidad has extradited a number of persons to the US to face charges and currently there were many requests pending. West argued that bail should not be granted to Morgan because he has seen cases in the past where persons facing extradition and given bail disappeared. He said there was the likelihood that Morgan would do the same. According to the AG, given that Morgan is not a Trinidadian and has no ties to the country he is likely to flee the jurisdiction if given bail. West said the Guyanese could capitalize on the border between Trinidad and Venezuela and escape.
Rajiv Persaud, one of Morgan’s lawyers, submitted that his client had the same entitlement to bail like any other person. Persaud said the fact that Morgan is not a national does not mean he should be denied bail. The attorney also proposed that the court hold Morgan’s passport, but West said this was not enough to keep the Guyanese in T&T. West said from perusal of Morgan’s passport he noticed that the Guyanese has been travelling a lot to T&T.
Persaud said his client was a renowned motor racer and a prominent businessman in his country. After listening to the arguments on both sides, Nicholls refused bail for Morgan and set next Monday as the next court date.
The provisional warrant mandates that Morgan must have a hearing before a magistrate in a court in the district where he was held to contest the extradition order. News media in Trinidad have reported that Morgan was known to travel frequently to Panama, Colombia, Vene-zuela and Margarita Island and had been under surveillance for some time. His case, according to reports, is linked to the arrest in 2004 of Guyanese couple, Sabrina and Arnold Budhram and the smashing of a drug ring. They were said to have been part of a ring that smuggled a large amount of money from drug operations.
Morgan had been held in several other jurisdictions on various charges.
Sources said the auto dealer had been under surveillance by US authorities for a number of years after several run-ins with law enforcement and his name had been on a list of Guyanese that the US wanted to place before American courts on drug charges. He was indicted last November on three counts of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine in the US. The indictments were unsealed last Wednesday and an arrest warrant was issued for him the same day.
Morgan became the third Guyanese wanted by the US in recent times to be arrested in Port of Spain.
His capture in Port of Spain followed those of businessman Roger Khan, who is currently before a New York court on similar charges and of basketball promoter Christopher Raffel Douglas.
US authorities have adopted this modus operandi, sources said, as they believe Guyanese security forces cannot be relied on to execute arrest warrants.
Morgan has since denied the allegations by the US and is maintaining his innocence. The Guyanese told one of his lawyers that because he sold vehicles and was paid in cash many persons think he is into illegal business. His attorneys in T&T have vowed to fight the extradition vigorously and aggressively.
According to the first count of the New York grand jury indictment, which Stabroek News has seen, in or about and between 2001 and August 2003 both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, Morgan together with others did knowingly and intentionally conspire to import a controlled substance into the US from a place outside thereof, which offence involved five kilogrammes or more of a substance containing cocaine. In the second indictment, the US said that Morgan during the same dates together with others did knowingly and intentionally conspire to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine into the US. The third count alleged that the Guyanese together with others intentionally conspired to distribute cocaine intending and knowing that such substance would be imported into the USA. All three indictments are in violation of Title 21 United States Code Section 963 and 960.
Morgan faces a maximum of ten years to life imprisonment if he is convicted on the three counts of conspiracy to import cocaine into the US.
The motor racer had been charged here in December 1999 following an arms bust at the John Fernandes Wharf in Georgetown. Another man who was involved in the case later pleased guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison. Members of the Guyana Police Force and the Customs and Excise Department had unearthed 14 guns including semi-automatic weapons, pump-action rifles and revolvers in a container consigned to the Morgan. Ranks had also recovered over 3000 rounds of ammunition in the container, which had been shipped from Miami, Florida by Nankumar Budhan to Morgan.
The arrest of Morgan and Budhan had followed closely on the heels of two others. One week before the find, Morgan’s brother, Terrence Morgan and two other relatives, Nevita Khan and Jaiprakash Shivdass were charged with unlawful possession of ammunition. They were allegedly caught with more than 13,000 rounds of various types of ammunition at a house in Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara.
