A United States citizen broke down in tears at the Providence Magistrate’s Court yesterday after she was sentenced to five years jail for supplying cocaine to be smuggled out of the country. Dawn Saul-Khan maintained her innocence throughout the trial, which lasted almost two years. “I had no knowledge. I had no knowledge,” Saul-Khan shouted as she broke down before Magistrate Leron Daly, who handed down the sentence.
Saul-Khan was initially charged with being in possession of 365 grammes of cocaine for trafficking on October 12th, 2012.
The prosecution’s case, which was led by Assistant Superintendent of Police Stephen Telford, was that Saul-Khan, a registered nurse from New York, had returned to Guyana on October 7th, 2012 and had procured another woman, Shaniqua Johnson and brought her to Guyana the following day. Four days later, Johnson was found with narcotics strapped to her body at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri (CJIA).
While in custody, Johnson had told the police that Saul-Khan had forced her to take the substance back to the United States of America. She testified against her at the trial.
The court had heard from Johnson that Saul-Khan had brought her from the United States and had housed her in a house at Alexander Village. She had explained that on the day in question, around 4AM, Saul-Khan had woken her up and instructed her that she had to take the package back to the United States or she wouldn’t be able to leave.
Johnson further told the court that Saul-Khan had all of her travel documents and had threatened that she would not return them unless she was willing to return to the United States on her terms and conditions.
Johnson had recounted in depth to the court how Saul-Khan had strapped the narcotics to her body and had secured sufficient garments around her body to keep the narcotics secure.
The court had also heard that Saul-Khan had taken Johnson to the CJIA via a bus and had waited on her to pass through security and clearance for her flight.
At the end of the trial, Magistrate Daly stated that she had no doubt about Johnson’s testimony against Saul-Khan. Magistrate Daly stated that while Saul-Khan was not physically found with the substance, the court found enough evidence to back up the claims that she had knowledge of the narcotics and procured Johnson and forced her to take the substance abroad.
Saul-Khan was previously charged with obstructing the course of justice as it was alleged that she had threatened persons that were held in connection to smuggling drugs out of the country. That charge was later dismissed.
