Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) head James Singh has said a man taken into custody has admitted to providing the 35 pounds of cocaine that Emily Leitch was busted with at the John F Kennedy International Airport.
Singh yesterday told Stabroek News that the man was arrested based on intelligence received, a day after Leitch was busted in New York, where she travelled from Guyana. Singh, who said he could not reveal much about the case as the investigation was ongoing, said that the man was arrested at a Campbellville address, which belongs to his mother, and he admitted to providing the drugs to the woman.
“He was arrested based on intelligence and yes he confessed to providing the drugs but I can’t say anymore because the matter is still being investigated,” Singh said, while adding that the man is likely to face charges soon.
CANU received information about the man’s location and swooped down on the house where he was found. and he is now in the unit’s custody. Although nothing illegal was found on the man’s person or at the address where he was held, this newspaper understands that investigators found “incriminating evidence.”
Stabroek News understands that the man may also face indictment in the US, and as such officials are working to build an airtight case against him. It means that officials would have to speak to witnesses both in the US and here and CANU officials are working closely with their US counterparts to this end.
The bust is the latest to glaringly illustrate the weaknesses in the security arrangement at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Timehri in the detection of illegal substances. When this put to Singh, he would only say that the cocaine was not detected locally but investigators are involved in the investigation on the local front.
Leitch, 28, who travelled from Guyana to the US, was busted at the New York airport with the cocaine stashed in her luggage, in El Dorado rum and in food cans. She was later granted bail in the sum of US$75 000, according to US court documents. She is accused of knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully importing into the US, a substance containing cocaine. Conditions of her release on bail include that she cannot leave the New York area without court permission and the surrender of her passport. She has also been placed under the supervision of the Pretrial Services Agency and must report to the Agency as directed.
According to an affidavit filed by Special Agent in the US Department of Homeland Security, Derek Bergman, Leitch arrived at JFK airport on July 27, aboard Caribbean Airways flight #424 from Georgetown transiting through Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
Upon arrival, Leitch was selected for a search and she presented a blue rollerbag, a green rollerbag, a black roller-bag and two carry-on bags. During an inspection of the blue rollerbag, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer noticed that the sides of the bag felt unusually thick. “The sides of the bag were probed revealing a white powdery substance, which field-tested positive for the presence of cocaine,” the affidavit said.
Leitch was then arrested. CBP officers also noticed that the green rollerbag had unusually thick sides and probed the sides of the said bag, revealing a white powdery substance, which also field-tested positive for cocaine. Her black ‘Luckway’ carry-on bag, which contained four bottles of ‘El Dorado’ brand rum, was also search-ed. All the bottles were opened and the law enforcement agents noticed that three of them emitted a strong chemical odour.
“The liquid in these three bottles field-tested positive for cocaine,” the affidavit said.
