Levi Kulsum, a naturalised US citizen, was sentenced to four years in jail on Thursday, when he pleaded guilty to a trafficking in narcotics charge, after being arrested at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri with cocaine in his suitcase.

Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton handed down the jail sentence and also ordered Kulsum to pay a fine of $2.7M when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. He admitted that on Thursday morning at the CJIA he trafficked in narcotics by attempting to export three kilogrammes of cocaine.

Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) special prosecutor Oswald Massiah stated that Kulsum was an outgoing passenger on a Delta Airline flight en route to the US when his suitcase was checked by a CANU officer who was on duty. Massiah said the suitcase was found to have a powdery substance suspected to be cocaine concealed in a “false wall” in the suitcase. Kulsum was summoned and he identified the suitcase as his property. Massiah said further that Kulsum was shown the substance and admitted that it was cocaine. He was arrested, cautioned and charged when the substance was confirmed as the narcotic.

Kulsum was unrepresented and he declined to say anything.