By Sharda Bacchus
Businessman Barry Dataram, his wife and two friends, all nabbed last Wednesday in a raid at a Diamond Housing Scheme property where over 129 kilos of cocaine were found, were remanded to prison yesterday afternoon after being charged with possession of drugs for trafficking.
Dataram, of Vriesland, West Bank Demerara (WBD); his common-law wife, Anjanie Boodnarine, 19, of Lot 79 Patentia Housing Scheme, WBD; Kevin Charran, a carpenter of Lot 60 Best Village, West Coast Demerara and Trevor Gouveia, a labourer of Belle West Village, WBD, all pleaded not guilty to the offence when they were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1.
Family members of the accused, some of whom were visibly distressed, turned out in their numbers from since early yesterday morning to await the arraignment, which did not take place until yesterday afternoon.
The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) has alleged that on April 16, at Lot 661 Silver Dam, Fourth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, the defendants had 129.230 kilogrammes of cocaine (equivalent to 284 pounds) for the purpose of trafficking.
According to Prosecutor Stephen Telford, CANU went to the house and the cocaine was found during a search in the presence of the four accused. As a result, they were arrested.
CANU head James Singh had told Stabroek News that the cocaine was found concealed in seafood. According to information provided to this newspaper by a source, the seafood was being prepped for shipment.
Telford asked the court for the defendants to be remanded to prison and to take into consideration the amount of cocaine found and that the investigation is not fully completed.
Telford noted that Dataram shares a common-law relationship with Boodnarine, while Charran and Gouveia are both friends.
Attorney Glenn Hanoman, who represented all four defendants, told the court that the house where the cocaine was found is not where Dataram and his wife reside, as is being claimed by authorities. He said it is a house they all visit and also multiple persons had access to the property.
Hanoman claimed that whatever was found was concealed and that the four defendants had only arrived at the residence moments before. He said too that there are two doors to the property, for which keys were found on others although they were not charged.
During lengthy submissions, Hanoman pleaded with the court to grant bail to Boodnarine, who appeared relaxed throughout the hearing and was all smiles when she arrived to the court.
He said the woman was only taking the 11-month-old son she shares with Dataram to meet him at the premises in Diamond when she was arrested. He said she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and begged the court to grant bail at least to her since she is still breastfeeding the child, who is now in the care of a friend.
Hanoman also said the defence has serious concerns about the integrity of what was found. He referred to Dataram’s court history, which he noted represented a big embarrassment. Dataram has been arrested several times before and escaped the clutches of United States law enforcement after an extradition attempt failed.
Hanoman said every instance where his client has been pursued by the law has clearly shown that he was mistreated. Nonetheless, he said many years ago he advised Dataram to stay in Guyana since there is no other part of the world where he can be safer.
Telford objected to bail on the grounds that there is a likelihood that other charges are likely to be laid and if bail is granted there could be a difficulty in locating the defendants.
In response, Hanoman questioned why any other charges are yet to be filed in the case, considering that the four defendants were kept in custody for more than 72 hours. Despite his submissions, bail was refused.
The matter is adjourned to May 7.
