A United States resident who was allegedly intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan Interna-tional Airport (CJIA) with two suitcases which contained over 5 kilogrammes of cocaine was remanded to prison yesterday by acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson after he was charged with trafficking in narcotics.
Steven Dixon was not required to plead when he was read the charge which alleged that on September 2 at CJIA he had in his possession 5.870 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Dixon, 30, of 125 Ocean Park, Brooklyn, USA gave his local address as 7 Garnett Street, Campbellville and his profession as entertainer/deejay.
He was represented by attorney Vic Puran who asked for an early date to be set for the commencement of his client’s trial. Puran said it has become the norm for a narcotics trial to last six months and in the circumstance he made an application for reasonable bail.
The attorney contended that the facts of the case would prove that his client is innocent. He made an application for all tapes of persons going to CJIA on the said day to be preserved for the trial. This move, he said, was to ensure the availability of the tapes when needed.
Puran said there have been instances where outgoing passengers at the airport have been held with suitcases containing drugs but which they did not check-in. He said that in this instance the same situation applied. He added that the suitcases which were attributed to his client were not his and he had no knowledge of their origin. He reiterated his application for the preservation of the tape which he said would clearly show the suitcases which were checked-in against those which were attributed.
Meanwhile, Police Prosecutor Stephen Telford did not object to bail but asked for the matter to be sent to Providence Magistrate’s Court at the earliest time.
Dixon was then remanded and the matter put down for today at Providence where the trial is expected to begin.
According to the police, around 12:10 hrs ranks of the Police Narcotics Branch at the CJIA intercepted the suitcases while observing the scanning machine during checks of an outgoing flight to JFK Airport, New York. A search later unearthed the narcotics mentioned in the charge and the American passenger was arrested and taken into police custody.
