Judge orders quick recovery of footage in airport workers’ cocaine case
Published:Tuesday | February 1, 2022 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A ST James judge has ordered the prosecution in the case against four Sangster International Airport employees, who reportedly tried to smuggle J$88.1 million worth of cocaine into Canada, to ensure that its case file is adequately completed ahead of the next court date, March 8.
Judge Kaysha Grant was speaking in the St James Parish Court yesterday while presiding over the case of Indra Waite, Brelanie Reid, Tavon Murray and Romaine Kerr, after the prosecution admitted that it had not yet secured video footage from the airport to bolster its case against the quartet.
“The airport does not keep the footage, and in a few weeks, they will tell you that they have overwritten it. The day the news is hot off the press, the police literally go to the airport, look at the footage and then arrest people, but that is not extracting the data,” Grant complained.
File needs to be properly prepared
“These are the things that tell me that the clerk never went through the information with a fine-tooth comb. The file needs to be properly prepared, and you need to look at the elements of the file and come up with a case theory ... . If any defence counsel decides to make a submission, you must be in a position to respond,” Grant added.
The court was also told that the prosecution is currently awaiting a number of statements from the Canadian authorities to complete its case file.
The matter was subsequently set for mention on March 8 and the four accused had their bails extended.
The allegations are that on October 10, 2021, the four defendants were servicing a Sunwing flight scheduled to depart from the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay to the Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada. They reportedly conspired and placed a bag with 11.4 kilogrammes of cocaine, valued at US$570,000, on board the aircraft.
The cocaine was discovered at the airport in Canada and one person was arrested in relation to the seizure.
Following top-level investigations, which involved input from Jamaica’s Narcotics Division, the four accused, who are all of St James addresses, were arrested and charged.
Waite, a 43-year-old security supervisor, is charged with conspiracy to export cocaine, possession of criminal property, and aiding and abetting. Reid, a 23-year-old aviation security officer, is charged with breaching the Civil Aviation Act and conspiracy to export cocaine. Murray, a 28-year-old ramp attendant, is charged with conspiracy to export cocaine, while Kerr, a 35-year-old ramp attendant, is charged with possession of, dealing in, and exporting cocaine.