A man accused of shipping 13 kilos of cocaine stashed in corilla on a Caribbean Air-lines flight bound for Canada, which was discovered in Trinidad, was yesterday refused bail at the George-town Magistrate’s Court.
Sherwin Dexter Bentick, 29, a vendor who resides at 56 William Street, Kitty pleaded not guilty to possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking before Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan.
It is alleged that on February 19 at the Cheddi Jagan Inter-national Airport, Timehri he trafficked in narcotics by transporting and exporting cocaine. According to the facts of the case Bentick who is a licensed shipper had made bookings to ship cargo through Carib-bean Airlines to Canada via Trinidad. He went to the airport and presented 81 pieces of cargo which included boxes of mangoes and baskets of vegetables including corilla. The cargo was processed and shipped on flight BW 424 and the shipment was checked in Trinidad by law enforcement authorities. The authorities uncovered 13 kg of cocaine stashed in corilla. Bentick was arrested by CANU officials who carried out investigations. Further investigations are ongoing by CANU in conjunction with the Trinidad narcotics branch of the police force and other enforcement authorities.
According to a report in the Trinidad Express the cocaine was discovered last week Monday in pellet form and stuffed inside vegetables. It weighed 13.4 kilogrammes. The report said more of the drug was discovered hidden inside baskets of tomatoes and bodi (bora), bound for Canada onboard Caribbean Airlines flight 600 at Piarco International Airport. Police in Trinidad had said that the flight originated from Guyana. No one was arrested in Trinidad but the officers had said that they made the seizure after weeks of surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Bentick’s case was transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court for March 15.
