Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 06, 2017 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News
A Voir Dire is being conducted in the trial of Dennis Albert Jones, who is accused of trying to smuggle 22 pounds of cocaine out of the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC).
It is alleged that on January 20, last, at the GPOC, Jones, 63, of Caneview Avenue, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, had 10.618 kilograms of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and is on remand.
According to reports, Jones, who was previously convicted for drug trafficking, was arrested shortly after he attempted to ship cocaine in baking powder and Banko wine to Toronto, Canada. Ranks from the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) intercepted a box containing the prohibited substance.
The matter continued yesterday before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. The Voir Dire is being done to ascertain the admissibility of a caution statement Jones reportedly gave to CANU ranks.
CANU Officer Andrew Yard and Joseph Inniss were among those who testified.
In the main trial, Troy Williams, an employee at GPOC, was summoned to the stand by CANU Prosecutor, Konyo Sandiford. Williams faced cross examination by defence counsel, Eusi Anderson.
According to the witness, he saw several packs of Champion baking powder being taken out of a mail bag. He said that the packets were “creamish” in colour and that none of them were leaking.
Williams said that he did not observe any piercing made by an ice pick on the packets.
He however agreed with counsel that if the packets were pierced they would have been leaking.
When further questioned by Anderson, the GPOC employee said that he is familiar with the classification of mail within his department but could not recall the difference between a parcel and Express Mail Service (EMS) mail.
Williams also could not recall the amount of numbers that should be on an authentic GPOC seal.
Under re-examination by Prosecutor Sandiford, Williams stated that a box, EMS mail and a parcel were taken out of the mail bag.
Last Friday, Donald Barry, another employee at the GPOC testified that he reported for work at 07:00hrs and that there were some parcels on the ground in a restricted area waiting to be packed. The witness said that he witnessed the packing of mails going out of Guyana and the postman affixing certain seals on the mail bags. Barry however, could not recall the colour of the mail bags the mails were packed into.
“A mail bag is a very strong polythene bag and most of the time they are bags that come from the US. Most of them roughly hold about 35 pounds.”
He explained that mail bags also come with a 20-pound capacity.
According to Barry, the bags come in red, blue and light green but can also vary depending on the port of entry.
The witness explained that mails are packed into a concrete cage which is surrounded by British Retail Consortium (BRC) metal. The door of the cages is also made of BRC mesh and consists of three locks. When further questioned by Anderson, Barry related that there have never been any instances of the BRC mesh being vandalized.
Prosecutor Sandiford is contending that there was overwhelming evidence against Jones, who was sentenced to four years imprisonment in 2012 for trafficking some cocaine in soap powder.
Based on reports, Jones was busted after he attempted to ship the cocaine to an African state.
The prosecutor had disclosed that there was video surveillance footage from the GPOC and when police ranks went to Jones’s home to arrest him he was found hiding in the ceiling.
Reports also indicate that Jones was deported from the United States of America for drug trafficking.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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