Two women who were arrested by Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) officers over the trafficking of $5.6 million worth of cocaine found in mats, have been charged and remanded.
Akata Makeba Garnett, 22, of ‘C’ Field, Sophia Squatting Area, Greater Georgetown, and Malika Scott, 32, of Grove, East Bank Demerara, were on Tuesday, charged separately for possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Garnett appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court where Magistrate Rushelle Liverpool read the charge to her and later remanded her. She pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleges that on March 5, 2022, at the airport located at Ogle, East Coast Demerara, she had 5.274 kilogrammes of cocaine in her possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Magistrate Liverpool remanded Garnett until March 31, 2022.
Scott was also charged, however, she appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. Scott denied that, on March 5, 2022, at George-town, she trafficked 5.274 kilogrammes of cocaine. Scott was remanded until April 5, 2022.
According to a CANU release, on Saturday, CANU officers at the Eugene F Correia Inter-national Airport intercepted Garnett who was a passenger destined for Barba-dos. She allegedly had five mats laced with suspected cocaine during a secondary search of her luggage. She was arrested and escorted to CANU’s headquarters with the suspected narcotic-laced items, which tested positive for cocaine with a total weight of 5.274 kg, with a street value of $5.6 million.
CANU reported that upon further investigation, Scott was arrested and charged.
