Man caught on wharf with $360,000 worth of cocaine

An estimated $360,000 worth of cocaine was taken off the streets of Kingstown on Monday when police apprehended a man at the Grenadines wharf with 20 and a half pounds of cocaine.{{more}}

On Tuesday at the Magistrates Court, Senior Magistrate Donald Browne slapped Ronald John, 29, a farmer of Calliaqua, with a two-and-a-half year custodial sentence after he pleaded guilty to possession of the illegal substance.

John was initially charged along with Clyden Osborne, whose charges were dropped.

Around 2pm on that day, police received certain information and went to the wharf. The defendant was seen disembarking a boat with a bag in his hand.

John then boarded a vehicle driven by Clyden Osborne. As the vehicle was about to move, police summoned it to stop and a search was conducted on John. The search coughed up two marijuana “bombs” in the palm of his hands.

The vehicle was driven to the Central Police Station and the search executed on the car revealed a black knapsack containing the taped packages of cocaine.

John’s attorney Bertram Stapleton said that the charge did not warrant a custodial sentence and argued that a fine be imposed.

Magistrate Browne, however, hastened to say that it was best that he be sent to prison to protect his own life. “If you are out here you might end up dead. I am sending you to jail for being a perpetrator of having illegal drugs,” Browne said.

For the two bombs of cannabis, John received a six-month sentence, which would run concurrently to the two-year sentence.

“When you go to prison, ask them for a New Testament and forget about this drug thing,” Browne advised.(KW)