British national sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for cocaine trafficking

A British national was charged for possession of narcotics when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Beharry on Monday.
Sinclair Akoto, 25, of London, England, made an appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to the answer to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
He pleaded guilty to the charge which stated on June 22 at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri he was in possession of 484 grams of cocaine, all of which he had ingested. Special CANU Prosecutor Oswald Messiah stated that on May 27 the defendant arrived in Guyana. On June 22 he went to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to board a LIAT flight about 16:15h to return to London via St Maarten.
While at the check in counter, the defendant was observed acting unusually uneasy and a CANU officer on duty at the airport approached him. The officer conducted a brief conversation with defendant about his stay in Guyana and about the cause of his uneasiness. Akoto’s response was that the night before he had smoked marijuana and that was the reason for his uneasiness. Further discussion caused the officer to be suspicious.
The defendant was being suspicious when the officer suggested he ingested cocaine; he denied and co-operated to have a medical examination. The defendant was subsequently arrested and brought to the city of Georgetown where he was taken to a medical institution for an X-ray carried out and he was further observed.
There he admitted ingesting the cocaine prior to him going to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, as a result the defendant was kept at the said institution. During his stay, he excreted 34 pellets. A test was carried out where it was identified as cocaine. Upon checking the defendant’s documents, the investigator learnt Akoto came to Guyana on July 14, 2011, October 20, 2011, December 18, 2011, February 8, April 4 and May 27. The prosecutor asked for the defendant to be given a minimum sentence.
The defendant said he made a bad mistake and he is prepared to face the consequences. He said this is the first offence he has ever committed in Guyana and asked the magistrate to show leniency. He said the choice he made was obviously not a good one and he made the decision based on his financial circumstances.
Magistrate asked the defendant his reason for coming to Guyana so often and he said he had a girlfriend until February. She then sentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment with a Gy$30,000 fine. She said the reason the defendant was charged with the fine was because there was no one to give the street value of the cocaine.