British national gets three years for trafficking cocaine in Marvex bottle

TIMES INT'L

Twenty-five-year-old British National Kwesi Headley was on Friday sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
The penalty was handed down by Magistrate Leslie Sobers at the Providence Magistrates’ Court.
Headley was slapped with the charge which stated that on October 7, 2010; he had 12.3 kilograms of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.
During the trial, the prosecution maintained that on October 7, the convicted mule was about to board a Delta Airlines flight bound for New York when the drugs was found in his possession, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.
According to Prosecutor Shellon Daniels, the drug was found hidden in salted fish and a Marvex bottle. The items were first detected by a scanner in Headly’s suitcase.
Minutes after the strange items were detected, the man’s suitcase was searched by members of the Police Anti-Narcotics Unit.
During the search, one of the salted fish was cut opened and a white powdered substance was found in it, while the Marvex bottle was also cut open, and the same substance was discovered. The substance was subsequently tested positive as cocaine.
On Friday, the magistrate while handing down his sentence, told the court that he was not satisfied with the case put forward by the Headly’s lawyer, Sonia Parag.
Parag in her client’s defence told the court that Headly had no knowledge of the cocaine, and he is innocent.
During the trial, she told the court that her client was given the items by a relative to take to the United States, but was unable to establish her argument with the circumstantial evidence.
The magistrate told the defendant that he was not satisfied with his statement as he was unable to say who gave him the items, and moreso, could not have provided an address in the U.S. where the items were supposed to be delivered.  Parag pleaded with the magistrate for leniency in Headley’s sentencing, based on the fact that her client has already spent one year in prison, since he was unable to post bail. He was subsequently sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

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