A Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officer on Tuesday denied offering a plea deal to a key witness in the case against accused cocaine traffickers Stephen Vieira, Tazim Gafoor, Nazim Gafoor and Sherwayne De Abreu continued.
The five men were charged after CANU conducted a raid and found the drugs concealed in dressed lumber on May 12th, 2017. The cocaine was reportedly stashed in lumber at a sawmill at Lookout, East Bank Essequibo, which belonged to Narine Lall, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued.
Tuesday’s hearing saw attorney Latchmie Rahamat, who represents Vieira, questioning two officers, one of whom had been the lead investigator on the case, about whether a plea bargain was given to the prosecutor’s key witness, Hakeem Mohamed, by CANU. (The ranks are not being named for security reasons.)
Mohamed, in his evidence-in-chief, told the court that he assisted Tazim in hiding the parcels of cocaine in the wood as it was being prepared to be shipped out of the country. Mohamed had also stated that on the day of the bust by CANU, the truck containing the cocaine-stashed lumber was parked at his residence.
Meanwhile, the lead investigator, during cross-examination by Rahamat, agreed that Mohamed had spent three additional days in custody, while the suspects had been released. He would have also agreed that the man gave seven statements during that time.
Further questioning by the attorney revealed that there was no record in CANU’s diary that would indicate that Mohamed was informed of an extension being granted in favour of CANU to further hold him.
Additionally, the court heard that Mohamed, after spending some time in custody, was released but subsequently rearrested.
Following suggestions put forward by Rahamat that he had rearrested Mohamed, the officer said he couldn’t recall, which prompted the attorney to direct him to a specific section of the CANU diary, where it stated that Mohamed was released pending further investigations in relation to trafficking in narcotics.
It was noted, too, that Mohamed was asked to return to the CANU headquarters on Wednesday, 31st May, 2017; the officer would have also agreed that there were no entries that would indicate that Mohamed was going to be charged with any offence.
Following up on this, Rahamat asked whether there is any record in the diary that would indicate that Mohamed signed an official plea deal with CANU, to which he responded in the negative.
Not letting up, the attorney pressed again, asking whether Mohamed was given a plea deal. However, the officer in his response told the court that he could not say whether a plea deal was given but added that he did not sign off on a plea deal.
Subsequent to this, the officer, in response to additional questions from Rahamat about the decision to release the man, said that he had been the one who instructed that Mohamed not be charged in relation to the drugs that were found. He agreed, too, that the file compiled did not receive any advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Meanwhile, the second officer who was called for cross-examination had previously testified to surveilling Vieira leading up the bust and handling the suspected narcotics after it was discovered by fellow CANU officers.
However, Rahamat, in cross-examining the man, asked whether efforts were made to verify the licence plate of the bike that he claimed to have seen Vieira use.
When the officer said no, she followed up by asking whether he was aware that the bike had been registered to another man named Stephen Vieira, who was not her client.
Additionally, she asked the officer if any attempts were made to check GECOM’s list to determine how many other persons had a similar name.
Subsequent to this, the officer denied the suggestion made by the lawyer that the man he was surveilling was not the Stephen Vieira whom she represents. She had also asked whether during the period of surveillance, the officer had heard Vieira mention anything relating to the suspected narcotics, to which he responded in the negative.
The trial is expected to continue today with the testimonies of several civilian witnesses.
