By The Observer Staff
(Charlestown, Nevis) – Three men have been sentenced to prison terms following guilty pleas that came on the heels of a recent anti-drug operation conducted by law enforcement authorities. The police actions netted over $600,000EC of marijuana, which was found in a boat, bushes and in a car, according to a release from the Royal St. Kitts-Nevis Police.
The police actions began on Jan. 17.
On Tuesday, Jan 23, the following persons were formerly charged with the following offences:
Walter Parris of Stapleton Village, St. Kitts; Franklin Brown and Nigel Forde, both of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, were all charged with:
– Arrival at a place other than a customs port
– Entering at Cades Bay, not being a formal port of entry
– Disembarking without the consent of an immigration officer
– Possession of controlled drug
– Possession of controlled drug with intent to supply.
– Importation of controlled drug, to wit, cannabis.
Mr. Parris was also charged with:
– Being the master of a vessel and without the consent of an officer or a police officer leaving the immediate vicinity of such vessel.
– Being the master of a vessel fail to notify the Comptroller of Customs of the expected arrival of his vessel.
The defendants appeared before the District “C” Magistrate Yasmine Clarke on Jan. 23 and the following sentences were imposed:
– Walter Parris was sentenced to 12 months in prison on each of the immigration charges and was cautioned on one of the customs charge and fined $5,000ECC in one month or 12 months in prison on each of the other two customs charges. He was also fined $200,000ECC in one month or three years in prison for the offence of possession of controlled drug with intent to supply. He was sentenced to three years in prison for importation of a controlled drug. All sentences to run consecutively.
– Nigel Forde was sentenced to 12 months on both immigration offences and also 12 months on the customs offence. The sentences are to run concurrently.
– Franklin Brown was sentenced to 12 months in prison on the immigration offence.
Mr. Parris and Mr. Ford were arrested on Saturday, Jan. 19, when an officer in the area of South Independent Square Street on St. Kitts identified suspicious behaviour by Stapleton and Ford in a parked car. A search of the vehicle by the security forces revealed two wrapped packages of compressed marijuana weighing 13.5 pounds in total. The men were taken into custody and the vehicle seized.
The drugs carry a street value of $33,750ECC.
Mr. Brown fled the area when Parris and Ford were arrested. He was picked up by police several days later.
The anti-drug strikes began on Thursday, Jan. 17, when a joint team comprising of the police on Nevis, the St. Kitts-Nevis Coast Guard along with officers of the Nevis Customs and Excise Department, led to the discovery of a large quantity of drugs.
Acting on information received, the security forces conducted the joint operation at Tamarind Bay in Nevis and met an unoccupied vessel SV Louana Two, docked with six packages of compressed marijuana weighing a total of 48 pounds on board. The vessel and the drugs were taken into custody. The drugs carry a street value of $120,000 ECC.
During further searches conducted in the early hours of Friday, Jan. 18, police on Nevis, with the aid of the K9 unit, discovered a large quantity of drugs in the bushes at Tamarind Bay. A total of 16 bales of compressed marijuana weighing 176 pounds, were taken into police custody. A small dinghy was also found in the area and taken into custody.
The drugs carry a street value of $440,000 ECC.
