Don’t come back, judge tells Guyanese drug traffickers

“Please leave and do not return!”

Justice Christopher Birch gave this stern order to two Guyanese nationals convicted of cocaine and cannabis charges moments before they were handed over to immigration officials.

Naseerdeen Bacchus Ali, 76, of Wales West Bank Demerara and Kamalodeen Alli, 45, of Belle West No. 2 Canal West Coast, both in Guyana, pleaded guilty to having, trafficking and importing 17.5 kilogrammes of cannabis and 17.35 kilogrammes of cocaine into the island on November 30, 2020.

Ali had previously been deported in 2011 after serving a four-year sentence for importing drugs into Barbados.

Noting the heavy impact that such drugs were having on society, Justice Birch chastised the men as they stood in the dock of the No. 5A Supreme Court on Friday during their sentencing hearing.

“You know that you are not supposed to be moving around the region with narcotics, and yet you did it anyway. You both know that. You are not stupid. You are men of seasoned years, but as always, you let greed blind you. You care not about the end results of these substances. It is all about the money, and it is a source of annoyance that people commit crimes knowingly with planning, in collusion with other people, and then they get to court and want all the mercy in the world.

“Where is your mercy on the end users? Where is your mercy on the addicts? Where is your mercy on the families who have to treat the addicts? Where is your mercy?!” the judicial officer demanded.

Taking into consideration the planning that went into the venture and the quantity of drugs involved, Justice Birch said, “You were not just planning a one spliff or a one rock. You all are dealing with some heavy amounts.”

“To go to the trouble of concealing it to the point that it slipped past the Coast Guard in the first instance—that is not the work of amateurs,” he asserted.

The judge gave the convicted men a starting point of nine years for the offences. He made several deductions, including for their admission of guilt and mitigating factors, before sentencing them to the four years and seven months they had already spent on remand.

“You will be handed over to the immigration authorities at the rising of the court…. Gentlemen, you will not abuse our hospitality again,” Justice Birch declared.

The two men then left the court, accompanied by officials of the Immigration Department.

Senior State Counsel Romario Straker prosecuted the case, while Senior Counsel Andrew Pilgrim and attorney Summer Hassell appeared on behalf of the convicted men.