Two men were remanded to prison yesterday after they were read charges relating to a gun, ammunition and cocaine found in a ‘checked-in’ suitcase at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on May 30.
Adrian Beckles and Dexter Lewis both pleaded not guilty to the three joint charges which were read to them by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton.
The first alleges that on May 30 at the airport they had in their possession 1kg 109 grammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The second charge alleges that on the same day at the airport they unlawfully had in their possession 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition. It is further alleged that on May 30 at CJIA they had a Magnum revolver in their possession without lawful authority.
Attorney Adrian Thompson made a bail application on Lewis’s behalf. He told the court that his client is 37 years old and is a St. Kitts national who has a Guyanese wife. Thompson said that Lewis is a contractor and usually stays at 130 BB Eccles when visiting Guyana.
In presenting special reasons for bail, Thompson said that the items in the charges were not found on Lewis or in his possession. Rather they were found in Beckles’s luggage and he had told the police that Lewis had given them to him.
The attorney pointed out that there is no evidence against his client and he has been charged based on what Beckles told the police.
Police Prosecutor Shaundel Daniels objected to bail being granted to Lewis. She pointed out that the address given by the attorney as Lewis’s differs from the one given to the police.
Daniels said that Lewis should be considered a flight risk since his wife resides in St. Kitts. Additionally, the prosecutor said that the alleged caution statement given by Lewis was incriminating. In his statement, she said that he admitted to giving Beckles the items.
Thompson objected and argued that the prosecutor should not have relied on the caution statement given by Lewis as a basis for opposing bail. However, the magistrate told the attorney that he will be given a chance to make submissions on procedure at a later stage.
Lewis’s application for bail was denied and the matter transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court for June 7.
Prosecutor Daniels then made an application for Beckles to be remanded and the matter transferred to Providence. Her application was granted and that matter also comes up on June 7 for report and fixture.
On May 30, two outgoing LIAT passengers and three other persons were arrested after a gun, ammunition and cocaine were discovered in the suitcase. Special constables manning the baggage scanner at the airport at Timehri at about 10.25am conducted a search on a ‘checked-in’ suitcase and discovered the items concealed in the baggage.
