Cocaine in underwear: National cyclist jailed for three years

TIMES INT'L

cocaine_2362725bA former national cyclist on Tuesday appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to a drug possession charge.

Kwame Cumberbatch, 26, of Lot 54 Durban Street, Lodge, Georgetown, pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that between January 28 and 29, 2016, he had in his possession 194 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones told the Court that on the day in question about 05:30h, the defendant was an outgoing passenger at the Ogle Airport on a Liat flight bound for Barbados.

The Prosecutor said that ranks from the Narcotics Branch were carrying out a routine search exercise and searched the defendant since he was acting suspiciously.

The ranks found hidden in the defendant’s underwear 46 pellets wrapped in a ziplock bag.

The defendant was told of the offence, cautioned and arrested. He later admitted ownership of the drug and told the ranks that he had also ingested a quantity of pellets.

He was subsequently rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where on January 30, 2016, he excreted 16 pellets containing cocaine.

In a plea of mitigation, defence counsel Charlene Fung-A-Fat told the Court that her client was a national cyclist, who took an opportunity to try to help his family. She urged the Court to have leniency in sentencing her client, requesting the minimum penalty.

Magistrate McLennan fined the defendant Gy$873,000, which is the street value of the drug, and sentenced him to three years in prison.

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