Four men were yesterday remanded to prison after being arraigned on drug trafficking charges stemming from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) cocaine bust in Berbice.
Canada-based Guyanese Narayan Jarbandhan, 40, Salim Bacchus, 49, Gary Belgrave, 52, and Leo Hernandez, 44, appeared before Magistrate Geeta Chandan Edmond at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 10, on a charge of possession narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Jarbandhan, the court heard, had been convicted for a similar drug charge a year ago and was out on bail pending an appeal.
According to the particulars of the charge, on November 3, at Line Path, Skeldon, Corentyne, Berbice, the four had in their possession 41.856 kilogrammes (approximately 82 pounds) of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
They pleaded not guilty to the offence, after which they complained of being brutalised while in custody of CANU officers. The men, who looked nervous, were unrepresented but showed the Magistrate cuts and bruises about their bodies.
“They kick meh in meh eye and meh ribs fuh no reason,” said one of the men, while Jarbandhan pleaded with the court for medical attention while displaying injuries he reportedly sustained to the back of his neck.
Hernandez said, “I was arrested at around 4 O’ clock the morning… they ain’t find nothing on me, they just lock me up.” The Magistrate later said that she will “endorse that [the complaints].”
CANU Prosecutor Oswald Massiah told the court that Jarbandhan was charged for a similar offence committed at the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport (CJIA) while he was travelling en route to Canada, sometime during 2009.
Jarbandhan was charged after allegedly being caught with 2.553 kilogrammes of cocaine in a false compartment of his suitcase at the CJIA. At the time, his address was given as Lot 11 Gordon Street, Kitty and he was described as a clothing trader.
Massiah said that the man was found guilty at the Providence Magistrates’ Court on July 16, 2010 for the offence and was sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined $30,000. He had been granted bail in the High Court, pending the determination of an appeal of the verdict, the prosecutor said.
Head of CANU James Singh had said that the bust was a joint operation involving CANU, the Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) and the Surinamese authorities as CANU worked to strengthen its cooperation with agencies in neighbouring countries. Singh said too that the operation was ongoing and that at least two more persons were being sought.
According to reports, the persons arrested were about to drop off the drugs when CANU officers moved in on them. The drugs were reportedly in 40-1 kg parcels stashed in two bags and it appeared that they were destined for Suriname.
The four accused were remanded until next Tuesday, when the case will be called in the Chief Magistrate’s Court. (Roxanne Clarke)
