Batavia drug bust… Four of five suspects charged, other remains hospitalised

Jun 14, 2011 News

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By Latoya Giles
Four of the five persons caught in last Thursday’s drug bust at Batavia in the Cuyuni River were yesterday arraigned at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The four men, 41-year-old Deonarine Singh of Friendship, East Bank Demerara; 32-year-old Randolph ‘Fatboy’ Singh; 34-year-old Clyn Collier, of South Ruimveldt; and Garcia Luis Alberto, of Venezuela, pleaded not guilty to the offence of trafficking in narcotics. The fifth suspect, Terry James, was not present in court since according to the police he is hospitalised.
The allegation is that the men, on June 9, at Batavia, Cuyuni River, trafficked 149 kilos 638 grams of cocaine.
Police Prosecutor, Vishnu Hunte, yesterday told the court that it was about 12:15 hrs on the day in question, when the police received certain information and traveled to Batavia.
According to the prosecutor the police upon arriving at the scene saw a boat moored at a landing.
A search was conducted and the police found the drugs aboard the vessel and concealed in plastic containers.
He further told the court that documents belonging to the five men were found aboard the vessel.
Hunte stated that based on advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions the present charge was instituted.
According to the prosecutor bail should not be granted based on the presented legislation which states that special reasons must be given to the offence and not the offender.
Attorney at law Glen Hanoman, who represented the Venezuelan, said that the prosecutor has revealed that nothing was found in his client’s possession, and based on that fact alone, his client should be admitted to his pretrial liberty.
“The mere fact that the prosecution has noted this, my client has no interest in running away from the charge because he is innocent,” Hanoman stated.
The lawyer also stated that there isn’t a landing where the police are claiming the boat was found.
Attorney at law Vic Puran, who represented all the other defendants, praised the police for the fact that they actually reported the “good version” of the story.
According to Puran, Deonarine Singh was on the boat merely trying to seek employment.
“He was there looking for a job….it’s just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The lawyer further told the court that his other three clients were only passengers. Puran said that the boat had stopped because the captain wanted to eat.
“Upon seeing the police the captain along with others ran away, but his clients remained since they did nothing wrong,” Puran stated.
According to Puran, before the court remands a person it must be firm that there is a reasonable charge before it.
“After listening to the short facts of the case…..you grasp that it’s a non charge,” Puran told the court.
At this point the prosecutor interjected and posited that the case before the prosecution is a strong one.
The prosecutor went on to say that the police also have an “eyewitness” who has already given a statement. He saw the five defendants alone on the boat.
After listening to the arguments the magistrate said that she would be remanding the persons. They are expected to make their second court appearance on Monday.
On Saturday the police had hinted that they were looking for two city businessmen who they say may be the masterminds behind the huge cocaine find.
A police official stated that the same two businessmen were wanted by the police several weeks ago. The police had issued bulletins for them after the execution-style murder of Patrick Goodluck and Godfrey Grootfaam, who died almost instantly from multiple gunshot wounds.
The police, acting on a “tip off” on Thursday, intercepted a vessel with a large quantity of cocaine at Batavia, located some eight kilometers ( five miles) up the Cuyuni River and about 24 kilometers south of Bartica.
The cocaine with an estimated street value of US$5million ($1B) was found stashed in four large plastic containers on a vessel named “Amor”. That vessel was powered by two 75-horsepower outboard engines
The defendant’s fingerprints are expected to be lodged with the Interpol database.
Sources had said that the fingerprints of the “Venezuelan” were sent to Interpol (International Police) to ascertain whether he is wanted or has been involved in crimes elsewhere. The police are yet to receive a reply from Interpol about that aspect.
Markings on the cocaine packages, which suggest a South America origin of the drug, will also be shared by the local police with their international law enforcement counterparts.
Guyana is considered to be a major transshipment point for cocaine and in recent months, Jamaican authorities intercepted two ships that originated from Guyana with large quantities of cocaine.
Some 122 kilograms of cocaine in a consignment of timber from Guyana, was discovered in a ship that stopped in Jamaica.
Jamaican authorities made the discovery on aboard the MV Vega Azurit which had departed last March.
Several persons were questioned in Guyana in connection with the drug bust, but no charges were ever instituted.

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