– prosecutor tells NY court
Former basketball coach Raffel Christopher Douglas had previously been convicted in Canada for smuggling 30 kilogrammes of cocaine into that country and prosecutors hope to introduce this evidence in his current trial in New York.
He had served seven years – from 1994 to 2001 – of a 20-year prison sentence, but had appealed the decision. A new trial was ordered and in lieu of the re-trial he was deported to Guyana in 2001.
Prosecutor Paul Laymon had made these revelations in a New York court last week while arguing that evidence of previous cases should be laid in Douglas’s current trial.
The US government had issued an arrest warrant here for Douglas in 2005. He fled the country, but was subsequently arrested in Trinidad and Tobago and later extradited to New York.
In January this year his lawyer, Daniel Felber had petitioned the court to have the indictments dismissed on a number of grounds, however this was not allowed.
Douglas was indicted in connection with the shipment of 184 kilogrammes of cocaine which was seized at the JFK airport on September 21, 2003.
Laymon, a trial attorney attached to the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section of the US Department of Justice, gave notice of his intention to use evidence of a previous case against Douglas.
He told the court that in 1992, an informant working for the Canadian police had told authorities that he knew Douglas and another man, Guy Young were involved in cocaine trafficking and laundering drug proceeds. Laymon submitted that in early 1993, undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer Chris Mathers infiltrated Douglas’s organization.
According to Laymon, Douglas and Young through various couriers attempted to launder several million dollars by converting Canadian currency into American. The lawyer said most of the money was delivered to undercover agents.
The attorney added that throughout 1993, several other undercover officers including Al Lewis, Murray Simms, Peter Lamburtucci and Gary Chaters were introduced into the defendant’s organization. As a result of “numerous conversations with the officers, the informant, extensive wiretaps and at least one videotaped meeting, Douglas was shown to have moved or intended to move hundreds of kilogrammes of cocaine from Guyana to Canada,” the lawyer submitted. He further stated that many of the loads would travel through New York on their way to Canada.
Collaborating with an individual he thought was a high-ranking Canadian customs officer, Douglas, Laymon said, utilized suitcases with unique identification marks and couriers to send the cocaine from Guyana to Canada. “In fact, the customs officer, Carl Mc Leod was a covert agent working for the RCMP,” Laymon revealed. He told the court that McLeod had several face-to-face drug transportation related conversations with Douglas.
