BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE five foreign nationals who were crew members of the cargo vessel, MV Elizabeth C, that was found with a large quantity of Cocaine and Cannabis Sative, were charged on Friday (Oct. 7) and remanded to Her Majesty’s Pprison.
In a statement issued yesterday (Oct. 12), the accused smugglers have been identified as Desue Mc Farlang and Ronald Olliviere of Grenada, along with Peter Scotland, Saleem Ali and Micheal Jack of Trinidad and Tobago.
Police have charged the men with the offences of Possession of Cannabis with Intent to Supply, Importation of Cannabis, Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Supply, Possession of Cocaine and Importation of Cocaine.
They were also charged by Customs officials for Fraudulent Evasion of Cannabis, Fraudulent Evasion of Cocaine, Concealment of Cannabis, Concealment of Cocaine and False Declaration of Documents.
According to the police statement, Mc Farlang received an additional charge for the offence of Modification of the Vessel for the Purpose of Concealment.
The offences were committed at the Deep Water Harbour Port in Bird Rock, Basseterre at about 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 4) 2022, and were realised during a joint operation by members of the St. Kitts & Nevis Customs Enforcement Division, the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the Royal St. Christopher & Nevis Police Force, and the Coast Guard Operational Division of the St. Kitts & Nevis Defence Force.
According to a joint statement from the Security Forces, the vessel is registered in Trinidad & Tobago with the International Maritime Organisation number 8894574.and its last port of departure prior to arriving at the Port in Basseterre was St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The statement also noted that during the search operation, between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., several bales of a white substance suspected to be Cocaine were found. Additionally, a quantity of compressed vegetable material in transparent vacuum-sealed bags suspected to be Cannabis Sativa were also found.
Both the Cocaine and the Cannabis Sativa were concealed within the walls of the cabin of the vessel, which were taken into police custody along with the five crew members.
An initial count revealed that there were 32 bales with each consisting of 25 kilo blocks, which amounted to a total of 800 kgs of Cocaine. And there were 16 transparent vacuumed plastic bags with a total weight of 5.830 kgs/12.852 pounds of Cannabis Sativa.
The Cocaine carries an estimated street value of approximately US$26,400,000 or EC$71,280,000, while the Cannabis Sativa has an estimated street value of approximately US$57,777 or EC$156,000.
