A man who attempted to smuggle over two kilos of cocaine in his suitcase to St Kitts was yesterday sentenced to four years in jail.
Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry also imposed a $30,000 fine on
Nigel Anthony Permaul, after he pleaded guilty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Permaul, of 168 Lodge Housing Scheme, plead guilty to the possession of 2.176 kilogrammes of cocaine with the intent of trafficking.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah yesterday said that on March 1, 2012 Permaul, who is unemployed, was booked a flight, Liat LI774, to St Kitts via Barbados. He travelled to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) with a suitcase and upon arrival at the airport booked in as a passenger. His suitcase was scanned and the CANU officer on-duty observed strange objects in it.
Permaul was summoned and, in his presence, the officer punctured the suitcase in the area where the unusual object was seen and a white powdery substance was found. The officer’s suspicion of the substance being cocaine was told to Permaul, who admitted to it and claimed that it was given to him by a person he only knows by an alias, to be sold. As a result, he was charged.
In a bid for leniency from the court, Permaul claimed that he was “looking for a job and ain’t get.” He also said that he was introduced to a man who told him to “do it for lil money” and he took it and he begged the magistrate for a lenient sentence.
However, the Magistrate imposed the four year sentence and the fine, while noting the prevalence of the offence and the nature in which the drug was concealed.
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