Jamaican convicted in Antigua

A Jamaican man has been convicted of drug charges in Antigua.



Dain Cummings reportedly pleaded guilty to possession of 675 grammes of cannabis in the All Saints Magistrates Court and was fined 20 thousand Antiguan dollars.



Cummings pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking, possession with intent to transfer and importation of the illegal drugs. All these charges were withdrawn.



He was reprimanded and discharged on the importation charge.



Pansy Lindsey, who arrived on the same flight as Cummings, and was caught with 650 grammes of cannabis, received a similar sentence.



The court heard that on June 10, Cummings arrived in Antigua at the V.C. Bird International Airport on board a Caribbean Airlines flight.



While being processed by immigration officials, he failed to meet the necessary entry requirements and was approached by officers from the Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy and customs officials.



The officials reportedly told Cummings that they suspected he was in possession of illegal drugs.



His luggage was then searched but nothing was found.

Investigators who believed he had swallowed the contraband took him to the Holberton Hospital where his abdomen was X-rayed. The X-ray showed about 70 pellets lodged in his stomach.



However Cummings later excreted 140 pellets, containing the compressed cannabis.