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Father of 4, man caught ‘cutting up weed’ jailed
…on separate narcotic charges
Two men, one of whom was busted at the airport with cocaine in false walls of his suitcase, and another man, who was caught in his house by police ranks ‘cutting up weed’ (marijuana) were each jailed for three years on separate narcotics
JAILED: Haslyn Thom
charges.
They were also ordered to pay fines when they appeared, yesterday, in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Haslyn Thom, 46, of Lot 4 Vlissengen Road, Ruimveldt and Louis Byass, 40, of Lot 376 East Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, Georgetown appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and Magistrate Leron Daly respectively.
Thom pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that on January 14, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) he had 1.544 kilograms of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Byass was found guilty of having 105 grams of marijuana in his possession on November 26, 2016 at East Ruimveldt. He was convicted by Magistrate Leron Daly at the conclusion of a trial.
In relation to Thom, Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford told the court that on the day in question; Thom was an outgoing passenger at the CJIA.
Prosecutor Sandiford said that Thom was destined for JFK, New York via a Dynamic Airways flight. The prosecutor said that the man placed his suitcase on a scanner, and a CANU rank present at the airport observed peculiar images on the screen. She said that the CANU rank asked Thom several questions. Based on the answers, Sandiford related that the CANU rank escorted Thom to the search booth, where the suitcase was searched in his presence.
According to Sandiford, the walls were probed and a quantity of whitish substance suspected to be cocaine was unearthed. Sandiford said that the CANU rank told Thom of his suspicions and escorted him to CANU Headquarters, Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.
Sandiford related that Thom revealed that he bought the cocaine from a man for US$4000.
Police Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that police ranks went to Byass’s home on the day in question to arrest him in relation to an assault allegation. Mangru said that when ranks approached the house they saw Byass cutting up something with a scissors and placing it in Ziploc bags.
According to Mangru, a quantity of marijuana, a scale, pair of scissors and several Ziploc bags were retrieved from the home. During the trial, Mangru called two police witnesses.
In his defence, Byass told the court that he was not home at the time of the search.
In the end, Thom was ordered to pay a fine of $4,168,800, while Byass was fined $157,000.
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