A Jamaican-born pilot, who was allegedly found with a quantity of cocaine in his suitcase at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, was remanded to prison when he appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court. The 24-year-old naturalised US citizen pleaded not guilty to the charge of trafficking in narcotics.

Jason Graveley denied that on January 11 at the CJIA he trafficked in  narcotics by attempting to export five kilogrammes of cocaine.

His lawyer Ronald Burch-Smith applied for reasonable bail for him on the grounds that the cocaine does not belong to him.

He stated that his client came into Guyana on January 1 to visit some friends. He said that this is the first time that his client had travelled to Guyana. Burch-Smith noted that when his client arrived in Guyana he noticed that something was wrong with his suitcase so he asked his friends to buy one for him.

He said that the friends referred him to a taxi driver who bought the suitcase for him. The lawyer went on to say that on January 11 when his client was scheduled to travel back to the US he  asked the taxi driver to drop him to the airport. He said that while the new suitcase was going through the airport’s scanning system the cocaine was detected and upon closer inspection it was discovered to be “expertly concealed in the suitcase.”

He noted that his client was surprised when this occurred and proclaimed his innocence ever since.

The lawyer argued that his client had an unblemished character and had even acquired a degree in aviation and was a licensed pilot.

However, prosecutor Shellon Daniels objected to the bail application,  stating that the cocaine was found in a compartment at the back of the suitcase.

She also stated that for the defendant to be granted bail in such a case there should be a special circumstance attached to the offence but the defence had presented none to the court.

The magistrate then ordered that the matter be transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court for tomorrow.