A clothing trader was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court after allegedly being caught with a quantity of cocaine in a false compartment of his suitcase at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) Timehri.
Narayan Jarbandhan, 38, of Lot 11 Gordon Street, Kitty, pleaded not guilty to the charge of trafficking in narcotics when acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson read it to him. He denied that on December 18, at the CJIA, he trafficked in 2.553 kilogrammes of cocaine by attempting to export same.
His lawyer Vic Puran told the court that his client is an importer of clothing. The lawyer asked for an early date for the commencement of the trial, noting that it was obvious that the magistrate would remand him to prison. The magistrate then ordered that the matter be transferred to the Providence Magistrates’ Court for December 29.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah stated that Jarbandhan is a naturalised Canadian. He said according to information received, Jarbandhan is married and has a family in Canada while he shares a common-law union with another woman in Guyana, with whom he also has children.
Massiah stated that the defendant is said to be a trader of clothing and had made previous arrangements with someone to take him to the CJIA on December 18. He said that Jarbandhan told CANU officers in an oral statement that while travelling to the airport he exchanged suitcases with the person, transferring his clothing and other things to the person’s suitcase.
The lawyer said that while the suitcase was going through the airport’s system scanner the substance was detected, which prompted CANU officers to take Jarbandhan into their custody after he had identified it as his.
The prosecutor stated that a search was conducted on the suitcase and the officers noticed that it had a false bottom. Upon closer inspection, they found the cocaine concealed in the compartment.