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$550M Cocaine in lumber… Stephen Vieira, Nazim Gafoor freed, two others jailed for five years
Two of the four men who were charged after the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) discovered $550M worth of cocaine hidden in dressed lumber, have been convicted of the crime.
In her ruling yesterday, presiding Magistrate of the Leonora Magistrate’s Court, Rochelle Liverpool, told the Court that the main witness in the trial had presented credible evidence against Tazim Gafoor and former customs officer Sherwayne De Abreu for the offence.
She noted that the State could not provide evidence beyond reasonable doubt for the other two defendants, Nazim Gafoor and Stephen Vieira. In relation to Tazim Gafoor and De Abreu, she pointed to the evidence which placed them at the scene of the crime.
The two were therefore sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined approximately $178M each by the Court.
Their lawyers Glen Hanoman and Nigel Hughes served notice that they will be appealing the decision.
According to the particulars of the case presented by CANU Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford, the four men aided one Hakim Mohamed to traffic 84.986 kilograms of cocaine. The drug was estimated to have a street value of $550M.
However, in her ruling, Magistrate Liverpool noted that the Court had no compelling evidence to convict the younger Gafoor and Vieira for the crime. The two were represented at by attorneys-at-law Everton Singh-Lammy and Latchmie Rahamat.
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