Guyanese jailed at Dodds for trafficking cannabis

Guyanese man who trafficked over $2 million worth of cannabis into Barbados three years ago has been jailed.

Justice Randall Worrell imposed a seven-year starting sentence on Dharmanand Rudradeo, who previously admitted to the No. 2 Supreme Court that he had possession and trafficked 252.5 kilogrammes of the drug on July 30, 2021.

However, Rudradeo only has 146 days left to serve on that sentence after several deductions were made from the starting sentence.

The drugs, with an estimated street value of $2 020 000, were found at a house Rudradeo was staying at in Warners Gardens, Christ Church.

Saying the large amount of drugs was of serious concern to the court, Justice Worrell made it clear that the offence warranted a custodial sentence.

He said: “The aggravating features of the offence are related to the fact that it was a large amount. The mitigating features are that there seems not to have been any violence in the act. From what you have said, you were helping to lift or assist in respect of (the drugs). You are saying that it wasn’t yours, but the mere fact that you were there and in possession of it, would suggest to the court that this is not possession in its simplistic terms of a trafficable quantity, and there had to be some degree of profiteering.”

Justice Worrell added that the convicted man was captured on camera with the drugs.

Reaching the seven-year starting point on the trafficking charge, the judge deducted a year for Rudradeo’s previously clean criminal record, cooperation with police, remorse, and his pre-sentencing report’s indication that he had a low level of reoffending.

A one-third discount was given for the convicted man’s early guilty plea, and he was also credited for the 1 224 days already spent behind bars as well as the 90 days for the delay in getting the case to trial.

“In relation to trafficking, from today’s date, you have a further 146 days. In respect of possession, you are convicted, reprimanded and discharged,” Justice Worrell ruled.

Before his sentencing, Rudradeo acknowledged his mistakes and asked the court for leniency. He said that his father, who had run their family’s business, died not long after he was charged, and his family was now in “complete turmoil”.

He said: “I am begging this court to have mercy. I am begging you, Your Honour, from one human being to another, if you can find it in your heart to help me and understand how much my family really do need me back home, to exercise leniency in your final judgment as to where my future lies in this courtroom today.”

Defence attorney Ajamu Boardi represented Rudradeo, while Principal State Counsel Krystal Delaney was the prosecutor.