Eight charged in $700M Monos Island coke bust

When the men appeared before Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim, the court heard that the $700 million drug bust at Passy Bay, Monos Island, on Tuesday, was the work of the Coast Guard and not the police. It was also alleged in court that at least two of the eight men charged with the drug, gun and ammunition offences, were beaten by members of the Coast Guard, and not the police.

Two Trinidadians, an Antiguan and five Venezuelans appeared before Lee Kim in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Magistrates’ Court charged with the offences.

They are Trinidadians Victor Sylvester, 37, of St Ann’s Road, Carenage, and Shaheed Ali, 30, of John Street, Cocorite; Antiguan, Ramon Javis, 46, of Jolly Bay, Antigua; and Venezuelans Edwin Javier Maraval Rodriguez, 33, of Carapano, Alonzo Valera, 35, of Valencia, Casar Pereira, 35, of Guiria, Freddie Garcia, 34, of Caracas and Darwin Gonzalez, 24, of La Pastoria, Caracas.

The charges were read to them via an interpreter and they were not called on to plea since the charges were laid indictably. Only two of the men, Sylvester and Javier, were represented by an attorney — Ian Brooks.

Brooks made a plea for bail for Sylvester, who has a medical condition and needs constant medical attention, but failed.

He did not ask for bail for Javier, whom the police said is being traced with the others through Interpol. Javis said he would like to contact his family, while the Venezuelans also wanted to contact their families and the Venezuelan Embassy in Port-of-Spain.

The magistrate requested instructions pertaining to Sylvester’s medical condition be made available while in custody, and that the Venezuelan Embassy be notified of the men’s arrest. The charges were laid by acting Insp Anthony Leezama.

All eight men were charged with trafficking cocaine, while Ali, Valera, Pereira, Garcia and Gonzalez are also charged with possession of firearms and ammunition and an additional charge of having a prohibited firearm — a Uzi machine gun. Sylvester, Javier, Javis, Valera and Pereira are facing an additional charge of conspiring to traffick in cocaine.

Court prosecutor acting police Insp Kenneth Cordner told the magistrate that 1,735.2 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized by the police at Passy Bay, Monos Island, on August 23, 2005. He said the cocaine comprised of 63 bales, which contained smaller packets totalling 1,580.

The court also heard that seven firearms were also seized — a self-loading rifle (SLR), an Armalite rifle, a Uzi, a Glock pistol, a Browning pistol, a Beretta pistol, and a revolver.

There were also eight magazines and a total of 247 rounds of ammunition comprised of six different calibres. Of those, 99 rounds were 7.72 mm, 46 rounds of 5.56 mm, 25 rounds of .380 mm, 47 rounds of .45 mm and another six rounds.

Brooks asked that the prosecution disclose any relevant documents in its possession, noting that there should be a medical certificate for Sylvester, whom he alleged was beaten on both thighs.

As Leezama was handing over the certificate, he also made it known that there was another one for Javier. This prompted Brooks to exclaim, "All yuh beat him too." Bantering a bit, Leezama softly replied across the table, "all of dem get licks."

Brooks asked that Leezama’s reply be made part of the record, but later recanted and asked that it be deleted from the record. Brooks contended that the police beating his client was never part of his instruction, and therefore not his case.

He claimed that his instruction was that it was the Coast Guard who made the bust at Passy Bay and arrested his client and beat him.

The matter was adjourned to next Thursday — September 1, 2005.