A man who was nabbed at the JFK Airport in the US with 19.2 kilogrammes of cocaine packed between curry powder and rice will be leaving a New York jail in August after a court accepted that he was a minor cog in the operation and sentenced him to a year and a day in jail.
Oral Caines pleaded guilty on May 1, 2015 to importing cocaine into the United States and was sentenced on August 14th last year to his prison term. Two other counts against him were dismissed. The probation department’s presentencing report had recommended a sentence of between 37 to 46 months.
Caines arrived on a Caribbean Airlines flight on December 17, 2014 and at the time he was in possession of three bags, including two checked-in suitcases and one carry-on duffle bag.
During standard examination questions, Caines claimed ownership of the three bags and their contents.
The bags were opened and an officer found a red curry container in his luggage. Under a layer of curry, a plastic bag was found.
Caines was then escorted to a private examination area where further inspection of his luggage revealed six red plastic containers of curry and two plastic containers of rice. Each container, Schrader said, in addition to the rice and curry had packages containing a white powdery substance concealed inside. The substance field tested positive for the presence of cocaine.
When questioned, Caines told the investigators that he knew he was transporting cocaine and that he was promised US$5000 to take the drugs to the US.
The federal defender who appeared on behalf of Caines, told Judge Margo K Brodie that Caines had no prior criminal history and the conviction did not involve injury, death or use of a firearm. He said that Caines agreed to carry the drugs as he had been unable to find work for a year because of the economy in Guyana and the parlous state of his family’s finances.
The federal defender also argued that Caines played a minimal role in the offence and was “the most expendable member of the smuggling conspiracy. He is held responsible for a large amount of cocaine, even though he had no knowledge of the amount he was carrying. Upon his arrest, he truthfully told the agents about his involvement and attempted to assist their investigation.”
