Nigel Enmore, the US-based Guyanese man who was nabbed in the US last September with cocaine in an ivory-coloured towel and several knitted doilies, had the charges against him dismissed against last week as he proved he had trafficked in the drugs under duress.
In a letter to presiding judge, Brian M. Cogan, Prosecutor Benton Campbell requested that the judge dismiss the charge against Enmore without prejudice. Justice Cogan granted the order on April 4, dismissing the matter against Enmore.
According to Campbell’s letter, dated April 1, which this newspaper has seen, Enmore attended a proffer session at the United States Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York on February 17 last.
“Having reviewed the defendant’s February 17, 2009 statements and the evidence in this case, the government has determined that the defendant has a valid duress defence to the charges…,” the letter said. As a result, he said, the prosecution wished to have the matter dismissed.
Enmore, 22, was on US$100,000 bail after he was arrested while allegedly attempting to import 5,203.3 grammes of cocaine into the US on September 17, 2008.
Court papers had said that Enmore had arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) aboard Delta Airlines flight 384 from Guyana. When customs and border protection officers approached him for a customs examination, he was found in possession of one black carry-on bag and one black suitcase that had been checked during the flight.
When questioned he indicated that both of the bags were his and that he had personally packed them.
The bags were examined and it was found that they contained, among other things, an ivory-coloured towel and several knitted doilies that appeared “unusually stiff and also had a strange odour.” Enmore was then taken to a search room where a sample of the towel and doilies field-tested positive for cocaine and he was then placed under arrest.
