By the time former reporter Zenneel Williams appeared at the Diamond/Grove Magistrate’s Court last Friday for her trial before Magistrate Sunil Scarce, she had made her third plea change, this time from not guilty to guilty.
The 26-year-old Williams of Lamaha Gardens had made her first appearance on April 25 last year in the same court, where she had pleaded guilty to trafficking over 21 pounds of cocaine. She was held at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on April 22, 2022 by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU).
Along with Williams, ex-CANU officer, 33-year-old Anil Sookhoo, and a Guyana Revenue Authority Customs Officer, Shameka Caesar, 27, were also charged with the same offence. They were each granted $750,000 bail while Williams was remanded to prison to await sentencing.
During her second court appearance, also last year, it was reported that the defendant changed her plea to not guilty. However, last Friday, she decided to plead guilty once more.
CANU had reported that on April 22, 2022, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, Williams, who was an outgoing passenger destined for the United States, had a quan-tity of suspected cocaine concealed in her carry-on bag.
She was subsequently taken to CANU head-quarters, where a further search was conducted and another quantity of cocaine was found strapped to her body. The combined narco-tics weighed a total of 9.628 kilos/21.22 lbs (7.962 kilogrammes in her luggage and 1.666 kilo-grammes strapped to her body).
The magistrate adjourn-ed the case to February 27.
