Reuben Morgan acquitted in London

Reuben Morgan, a Canadian-based Vincentian, who recently held a Vincentian diplomatic passport, walked a free man this week from a London Court after he was acquitted of cocaine charges brought against him in December 2004 by the British authorities.

Morgan was acquitted of all charges by a 12 member jury.{{more}}

Last year he was arrested in London and charged with the importation of one kilo of cocaine.

Morgan is the uncle of Desmond Morgan, the Chairman of the National Commercial Bank. Desmond Morgan is the husband of Attorney General Judith Jones-Morgan. He was reportedly nabbed at a London airport where he had travelled for the funeral of a relative. The one kilo of cocaine was reportedly found in one of the three pieces of baggage he carried.

At the time Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves had acknowledged to SEARCHLIGHT that Morgan had in fact been given a diplomatic passport because of his work in Canada among farm workers and his connection with potential Eastern European investors.

Morgan had been in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in November and was seated prominently up front at the Unity Labour Party Convention.

Dr. Gonsalves had said that from all reports Morgan had been “an upright man” thus the issuance of the diplomatic passport to him.

He explained that this country has just two categories of passports which are issued to Vincentian nationals.

The government has issued diplomatic passports to several outstanding Vincentians including sportspersons Pamenos Ballantyne, Skiddy Francis-Crick, Nixon McClean and Cameron Cuffy and calypsonian Alston Becket Cyrus.

The Prime Minister had pointed out that as soon as he learnt of the arrest, he contacted the resident British Representative and informed him that the government was revoking Morgan’s diplomatic passport. He said that a diplomatic note was later sent to the British Government. Dr. Gonsalves also said that he had also apprised the Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace of the situation.