After spending six years on remand, a Barbadian man was allowed to walk free on Thursday after being sentenced to time served, while his Guyanese accomplice was hit with a hefty fine for trafficking a large quantity of cocaine and cannabis into the country in 2017.
David Ian Brathwaite, of 3rd Avenue Parris Gap, Westbury Road, St Michael, was able to walk out of the No. 5 Supreme Court when Madam Justice Pamela Beckles made deductions from a 12-year starting sentence for trafficking 72.1 kilogrammes of cannabis and 50.4 kilogrammes of cocaine.
Meanwhile, Abdool Sameer Manan, who had been on bail, was sentenced to time served for the cannabis and fined $50 000 for the cocaine. Of that amount, he had to pay the court $20 000 forthwith and the $30 000 balance must be paid in 12 months if he does not want to spend 661 days behind bars – the remainder of a 12-year starting sentence.
The two were convicted, reprimanded and discharged on charges of possession and importation of the illicit substances.
“It cannot be disputed that the illegal drug trade negatively affects society. It not only impacts the human body and damages. . . relationships but it also significantly contributes to crime,” Justice Beckles said as she imposed the sentences.
“The sentences must be a deterrent to you, the offenders, and potential offenders that such offences will not be tolerated.”
The men, who were represented by King’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, had pleaded guilty to committing the crimes on June 29, 2017.
Brathwaite, who has prior convictions for similar offences, was given a 12-year starting sentence from which two years were deducted based on mitigating factors. There was also a deduction of the 2 174 days he had spent on remand, and a one-third discount was given for his guilty plea, leaving him with time served.
Manan was also given a 12-year starting sentence, from which three years were subtracted for mitigating features – including the fact that he was not known to the court. A one-third discount was also given for his guilty plea, leaving him with 661 more to serve behind bars. That was substituted for the fine.
In the facts disclosed by Principal State Counsel Krystal Delaney and State Counsel Tito Holder, the court heard that Coast Guard officials acting on a tip-off sailed to an area approximately three nautical miles off Oistins, Christ Church.
Around 8:30 p.m., after receiving further information, they ventured to an area 2.6 nautical miles off Maxwell, Christ Church. When they arrived, the officers became suspicious as they observed a boat with no lights travelling in a southerly direction. They ordered the vessel to stop, and those on board complied. The vessel was a pirogue with the name Solomon and registration number M470.
The police officers noticed two men and a number of bulky bags on board, and one of the men identified himself as Brathwaite. They were then escorted to the Coast Guard base.
Seven packages were taken off the vessel – four with 69 taped packages containing cannabis and three with 44 taped packages of cocaine.
Brathwaite was interviewed and he said that he and the other man had arranged to use the vessel to go fishing together.
Asked how the drugs got on the boat, Brathwaite said: “We went down southwest within a couple of miles and wait till daybreak. When turning coming back, the [another person] was on the phone talking to someone. I don’t know who he was talking to but when he done the call, we went to some coordinates . . . . I see packages floating on the water tie off with rope. The other person cut the rope and we pull the packages on the boat.”
He also told police he was being paid for bringing the drugs into the island.
Manan, meanwhile, was arrested on June 30, 2017.
“I am not responsible for those drugs . . . . This . . . bigger than me,” he told police, claiming that the contraband belonged to a businessman who was already back in Guyana.
“I was just to make sure that the boatman collect the drugs from the GPS coordinates that [the man] provided and get the drugs to land safe . . . . When I couldn’t connect to the captain, I know something was wrong and I informed [the man]. He then tell me leave Barbados on the next available flight,” Manan had told police.
