Alleged Barbados-bound drugs trafficker refused bail

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 20:59 by GxMedia

A woman, who allegedly attempted to smuggle a quantity of marijuana and cocaine to Barbados, on Friday pleaded not guilty to being in possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Anastasia Latoya Crawford,19, of 29  Fort Street, Kingston, was remanded to prison until May 27 when she would appear at the Sparendaam Magistrates Court.

She was arrested on May 21 at the Ogle International Airport from where she was about to leave on a LIAT flight to the Caribbean island.

Customs Anti  Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor, Oswald Massiah told the court, presided over by Chief Magistrate, Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, that the woman was intercepted with 2.286 kilogrammes of cocaine and 5.574 kilogrammes of marijuana.

Initially, when one of the nine taped packets was punctured by a CANU agent, suspected marijuana was found and when the woman was told she began crying. She was escorted to CANU headquarters where further checks were conducted and three of the remaining packets allegedly contained cocaine.

Massiah alleged that Crawford told investigators that she was offered US$15,000 by Mark “Polo” Mohabir to take the narcotics to  Barbados d she was advanced GUY$50,000 with the understanding that she would have been paid the remainder on arrival at her destination.