A mother and her son, who were on trial after being held at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport with cocaine that they were trying to sneak onto a flight to Canada, were yesterday both sentenced to three years in jail after changing their pleas to guilty.
Police had said Esardai and Anand Gocool claimed they were paid to take a suitcase containing a total of 10 kilos of cocaine in a false bottom into Toronto.
However, Esardai, a permanent resident of Canada, and her son, a Canadian national, both denied the charges when they were arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts last year and the case subsequently went to trial.
They maintained their innocence of the charge, until yesterday. After being on remand for months during the course of their trial, both defendants changed their pleas to guilty when they appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 5.
The magistrate, after taking into consideration that the defendants are both first time offenders, and that they spent almost one year on remand while being tried, sentenced them both to three years. She also fined them $30,000 each.
The charge against the duo stated that on July 8, 2014, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Esardai and Anand had in their possession 5.282 kilogrammes and 5.221 kilogrammes of cocaine, respectively, for the purpose of trafficking.
The police had stated that the mother and son were arrested on July 8 at the airport, from where they were scheduled to board Caribbean Airlines Flight 606, which was destined for Toronto. Around 1PM that day, ranks of the Police Narcotics Branch observed the false bottom of the suitcase, which prompted them to conduct a search and the illegal substances were revealed therein. On their first appearance the court had heard that the Gocools identified the suitcase as theirs but they told the ranks that they were paid by someone to transport it to Canada.
Esardai, who was given a few minutes to speak to her son before he left the court in the prisoners’ van, was seen hugging him while she wiped tears from her eyes.
