St Lucian who said he didn’t know he had cocaine given hefty fine and jail time

A Saint Lucian, who claimed to be unaware that he was carrying 22 thousand grammes of cocaine, was jailed and fined for illegal possession and trafficking of drugs.

Ezra Henry was charged alongside his countrymen, Dolton John and Moses Barbour, that on September 18, 2024 in Bequia, they illegally possessed and trafficked 22,243 grammes of cocaine. Henry pleaded guilty to the offence, while the charges were withdrawn against the others. The three had also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to traffic, and the charge was later withdrawn against all of them.

Henry was sentenced at the Serious Offences Court before Senior Magistrate, Colin John on October 24, 2024, for illegal drug possession and trafficking. The facts are that about 9:45 a.m on the date in question at Able Seaman (AB) 323 Charles, and Ordinary Seaman (OS) Charles were on board the SVG 03 Coast Guard vessel doing routine patrol within the Port Elizabeth Harbour.

While in the vicinity of Hamilton Bay, they saw a red pirogue vessel travelling from Hamilton Bay towards Devil’s Table and they began to pursue it. The Coast Guard sounded the loud hailer, then verbally commanded the vessel to stop, but it kept going. While giving chase, one of the occupants began throwing packages overboard. OS Charles then charged his service pistol and verbally commanded the vessel to stop; it complied.

Both officers retrieved a black plastic bag with a white nylon sack which contained several rectangular packages. After contacting CPL 761 Pompey for assistance, AB Charles handed over the bag and the three occupants of the pirogue to him. CPL Pompey opened the bag and the packages in the presence of the occupants and saw a whitish substance resembling cocaine.

John, who was one of the occupants, said that he did not know anything about the substance. Another occupant, Barbour, said that he begged for a ride to drop some food for his father in Petit Bordel, and Henry said, “officer, a man throw on the package on the boat in Bequia and tell us to go. Then, we hear the coast guard and suspect it was drugs in the package so I throw it overboard”.

The contents of the Nylon sack amounted to 22,243 grammes, and the packages amounted to 20 grammes. On the following day, they were electronically interviewed and later charged with illegal possession of controlled drug, drug trafficking and conspiracy. Lawyer, Grant Connell, who represented Henry in the matter, told the court that Henry did not put the package on the boat and was unaware of its contents.

Connell added that “unless you have some type of crystal ball,” one wouldn’t be able to see inside. He also said that Henry assisted the police and did not try to avoid them. Prosecutor, Renrick Cato, commented that “this is not just a court of law, this is a court of common sense”.

Cato said that he “cannot understand” how a man could be “waiting with 20 packages of cocaine” and just throw them into a boat “and said go ahead.”

He also argued that the offence was motivated by financial advantage due to the high monetary value of the drugs. Connell rebutted that there was no evidence which suggested that a man was waiting for the boat.

After Connell and Cato made their sentencing submissions, the Senior Magistrate sentenced Henry to three years in prison, and also ordered him to pay $125,000 in one year or serve one year in prison.