A woman and a man were on Monday jailed in Suriname for trafficking in cocaine that reportedly came from Guyana.
According to the Dagblad Suriname, Lora Diaz was sentenced to four years in prison by a magistrate and also fined $7,500 after it was pointed out that the trafficking of 16,080 grammes of cocaine was a very serious offence. Her co-accused, Raoul Troenodjojoto, was sentenced to three years and fined $5,000. According to the magistrate, the convict was well aware that he was transporting drugs from Nickerie beach front of Paramaribo.
Two other accused, whose names were given as “Winston” and “Steve,” were acquitted according to the report.
The report said that while the prosecution had requested an acquittal for Winston, since there were some doubts about his involvement, they wanted Steve to be jailed for two years. However, in court it was pointed out that there was some doubt as to Steve’s involvement and it was not clear that he knew the drugs were hidden in the bumpers of the car as from telephone conversations it was not clear he spoke about the drugs.
The report said the cocaine was smuggled from Guyana to Suriname.
Last week, the Star Nieuws had reported that units of the Judicial Service of the Police Corps of Suriname seized 115 kilogrammes of cocaine that they believed originated from Guyana.
According to the report, the Head of the Judicial Service Commissioner Krishna Hussainali-Mathoera said investigators believed that the cocaine was smuggled across from Guyana to Nickerie and then transported by road to Paramaribo.
Following the bust, the four Surinamese were arrested. The report stated that quartet was arrested on the same day of the seizure by a special arrest team of the Anti-Narcotics Brigade and the Intelligence Narcotic Unit.
Meanwhile, local authorities said last week that they had no evidence that the cocaine originated from Guyana.
