Nigerian faces 54 months imprisonment in Guyana for trafficking cocaine

A Nigerian national was on Monday sentenced to 54 months imprisonment after he was found guilty of trafficking cocaine. The sentence was handed down by Magistrate Sueanna Lovell in Court Two of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Forty-three-year-old Paul Egbuna Ateli of Lot 20 Delhi Street, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, was charged for being in possession of 510g of cocaine for trafficking on January 23, 2012, at North Road, Georgetown.
In the trial, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) prosecutor, Oswald Messiah, presented four witnesses, including Debbie Barker who was also charged in relation to this cocaine bust, after she attempted to post the narcotic hidden in artificial nails.

The trial for both drug mules was conducted separately and as such Barker, 49, a cosmetologist of Lot 2655 National Avenue, South Ruimveldt Park, Georgetown, was found guilty in May of last year and sentenced to three years imprisonment.  The woman then agreed to testify against Ateli and was the prosecution’s main witness.
In his closing argument, Messiah asked the court to impose the maximum sentence on Ateli, since he has caused much embarrassment to Guyana. The prosecutor noted that the woes encountered by law enforcers trying to encumber drug trafficking in Guyana should also be taken into account when imposing the sentence.
Ateli, who was unrepresented, told the court that the prosecution’s main witness, Backer, had lied “from day one”, noting that he never gave her anything.
On Monday, Magistrate Sueanna Lovell in her ruling stated that she is satisfied that Ateli was the person who gave the narcotic to Barker to post, hence, she sentenced the man to 54 months imprisonment.
According to reports, Barker went to the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPO) on Robb Street, Georgetown, to post an envelope containing artificial nails destined for China and upon inspection the illicit drug was discovered by CANU ranks.
The woman told CANU ranks during interrogation, that she was promised US$500 once the package was posted. She, however, gave CANU ranks the name and address of the man who sent her to post the envelope.
Members of CANU then planned a sting operation and Ateli, whose name was given as Martin Ateli, was apprehended in a fast food restaurant. He was subsequently taken into custody and was accompanied by CANU ranks to his home where a search was conducted, but came up empty handed. After further investigations, the man was charged.