Case points to collusion

The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) yesterday arrested a 16-year-old drug trafficker with 7 kilos (15 lbs) of cocaine in his hand luggage.

Sources close to the unit said the case was troubling for two reasons: the age of the trafficker and the collusion which would have been necessary to get him through the airport with that amount of cocaine.

CANU has been engaged increasingly in intelligence-led probes and it had been tipped off that a shipment would be passing through the airport yesterday. The sources say it was thought that the drugs would be packed in a suitcase but CANU was stunned to find that the drugs were stashed in a bag which simply contained a teddy bear and cloth. The sources said that that signified that the trafficker would have been cleared through the scanner by a co-conspirator. Other-wise, the drugs would have been strapped to the body or concealed in some other way.

The mule was on his way to the US and this was said to be his first trip. Runs of this sort could potentially earn the mules around US$8-9,000 and this is why so many of them are willing to take the risk.

Sources say there is evidence that airport staff have been letting traffickers through only to have some of them nabbed in New York and other places.

Recently, a brother and sister were apprehended in Trinidad with drugs strapped to their body and it was clear from investigations at Timehri that they weren’t scanned or searched at the airport.

Investigations are continuing and the teen was in police custody last night.