Lawyer withdraws representation for Barry Dataram, reputed wife

Sep 25, 2016 News

— Arrest warrants still out for their arrest
Arrest warrants are still out for Barry Dataram and his reputed wife Anjanie Boodnarine.

Attorney Glenn Hanoman

Dataram, his reputed wife, Anjanie Boodnarine, along with their friends Trevor Gouveia and Komal Charran, are accused of having 129.23kg of cocaine in their possession on April 16, 2015 for the purpose of trafficking.
They were arrested at Lot 661 Fourth Avenue, Block X Diamond, East Bank Demerara. They are currently out on High Court bail. The couple failed to attend again Friday’s court hearing before Magistrate Judy Latchman.
The magistrate is scheduled to make a ruling on whether a prima facie case has been made out by the prosecution. However, only Gouveia and Chandan showed up.
Police constable Anil Saffie provided the court with an update on the efforts made to arrest Dataram and his wife. The officer said that he had visited two addresses in search of the couple but didn’t find them.
Meanwhile Attorney for the defendants, Glenn Hanoman, made an application for leave of the court to withdraw services on the grounds that he was unaware of the whereabouts of Dataram and Boodnarine. The lawyer said that he has not been able to communicate with the couple since their last court appearance. The application was granted by the court.
Hanoman, never the less, is still the attorney of the other two persons.
Dataram, also known as ‘Mogotani’ or Kevin Dataram, of 13 Vriesland, West Bank Demerara; his reputed wife, Anjanie Boodnarine, 19, of 79 Patentia, Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara; Komal Charran, 20, of 265 Belle West, West Bank Demerara; and Trevor Gouveia of Best Village, West Coast Demerara, had all pleaded not guilty to a drug trafficking charge.
According to the allegation, on April 16, last, at 661 Fourth Avenue, Block X Diamond, East Bank Demerara, they allegedly had 129.23 kg of cocaine in their possession for the purpose of trafficking.
On the day in question, ranks from the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) swooped down on the house and conducted a search in the presence of the defendants. During the search they unearthed the illicit drug.
It was reported that some of the cocaine was stuffed in frozen seafood, while the remainder was found to be bricks of raw coke.
As a result, Barry Dataram who was in the house at the time of the bust with his reputed wife and three other persons were arrested. The defendants were then told of the offence, arrested and charged.
Dataram, a Guyana-born American, had successfully fought off efforts to extradite him to the United States of America to face drug smuggling charges.
Several witnesses have since testified in the trial which is ongoing before Magistrate Judy Latchman. During a previous court hearing, Dataram had angrily called Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) officer, Andrew Yarde, a liar. The alleged drug trafficker was at the time responding to a testimony given by Yarde.
The CANU officer testified that 428 parcels of plastic wraps with suspected cocaine were seized from Dataram’s home at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
He added that the suspected drug was in a white fridge.
The fridge, he said, was driven to CANU Headquarters, Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown by him in a CANU vehicle.
The witness recalled that the fridge was parked in the CANU compound which is secured by concrete fence with razor wires and CCTV cameras.
In response to questions from CANU Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford-Thompson, the witness said he had never conducted any raid pertaining to Dataram prior to the charge he is now facing.
But Dataram claimed that the detective is a liar. He stated that Yarde had conducted a raid on him before and accused the detective of stealing his money.
Further questioned by Prosecutor Sandiford-Thompson, Yarde recounted that he was watching a television newscast in the latter part of February when he saw Travis Chase doing an interview with Dataram.
He said that during the interview, Dataram confessed to being a drug dealer and said that half of the drugs CANU seized from him are back on the streets.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News