Joel Cadogan, an overseas-based Guyanese who was arrested on Monday after he was found with a quantity of marijuana in his luggage, was yesterday sentenced to four years in jail and fined $1,527,000.
Cadogan, 51, appeared before Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court, where the drug trafficking charge was read to him.
He pleaded guilty to the charge and was subsequently sentenced and fined.
In a press statement, the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) said that the illegal drug was unearthed at the Arrival Lounge of the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
According to CANU, Cadogan entered Guyana with three suitcases and two hand pieces
The release said that the suspect cleared immigration, after which he was subjected to a search by customs officials attached to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
During the search, CANU found four parcels of suspected cannabis, which were wrapped in jeans in Cadogan’s luggage.
Whilst there, the remainder of his luggage was searched and several pairs of sneakers were found to have been stuffed with numerous small empty ziploc bags and a table-top scale.
As a result, he was detained and subsequently escorted to CANU Head-quarters in Georgetown.
“There appears to be a developing trend of nefarious individuals trafficking presumably novel grades of marijuana into Guyana from the developed world, reversing the traditional trafficking transshipment flow,” the statement said.
