Dave Welcome, who was held this morning during an attempt to smuggle 2.67 kilogrammes of cocaine aboard an outgoing flight to New York, will be spending the next four years in jail.
Welcome, 42, was sentenced after pleading guilty hours later to a possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking charge at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
He had been intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, with the cocaine at about 4am by Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) agents. The cocaine was found hidden under Welcome’s clothes in a flattened black bag. He claimed that he was given the drug along with US$400 and he was promised an additional US$8,000 if the package was delivered.
“I took a chance for the sake of my family and to save my business,” Welcome told Chief Magistrate Priya-Sewnarine Beharry, who heard the case.
In addition to the jail sentence, the magistrate also fined Welcome $30,000.
