Clarke gets five years behind bars

St George resident Anderson Dacosta Clarke who says he almost lost his life in August last year, has been sentenced to five years in prison for importing and trafficking 43.3 kilogrammes of marijuana into the country.

The 42-year-old of Drax Hall Hope pleaded guilty to the charges as well as possession and possession with intent to supply on August 9, 2018, when he appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant last week.

The sentenced was imposed when he re-appeared in the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.

“I nearly lost my life in this cause . . . we were drifting for four or five days . . . and we only had a little water . . . . but when you start wrong you end wrong. You can’t get right from wrong,” he admitted.

The magistrate imposed a three-year sentence on the trafficking charge and a two-year sentence on the importation to run consecutively.

The Coast Guard and police acting on a tip intercepted a blue and white fishing vessel called Bubbles with Dacosta and another man on board. They were taken into custody and a search was conducted. The vegetable matter was discovered in 32 taped, brown packages, hidden in a seating compartment behind the captain’s steering wheel.