$70M heroin bust — two men charged

TWO men, one a Venezuelan national, appeared before a Port-of-Spain Magistrate yesterday charged with trafficking US$11 million (TT$70 million) in heroin, which according to officials of the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU) is the largest heroin haul in TT’s history.

Dikent Ramon Cueto Soto, 32, of Valencia, Venezuela, and Wilson Mac Millan, 45, a taxi-driver of San Juan, appeared before Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim charged with possession of 11.12 kilos of heroin for the purpose of trafficking at Western Main Road, Carenage. Mac Millan was represented by Patrick Godson-Phillip who asked that his client be granted his own bail. Police prosecutor Sgt Ian Raeburn had no objection to bail. Magistrate Lee Kim expressed surprise that the police were not objecting to bail as Mac Millan’s criminal record was not known. However, she granted him bail with a surety of $50,000. Soto, who was unrepresented, was remanded in custody pending tracing of his criminal records from Interpol. Both men were ordered to reappear in court on April 8.

According to reports, at around 8 pm on Wednesday, OCNU officers co-ordinated by Snr Supt Kathleen Weekes were on enquiries along the Western Main Road, Carenage, when they intercepted a car near the ALCOA plant. During a search of the vehicle, the officers reportedly found a quantity of heroin hidden inside hollow laminated plyboard at the bottom of three black suitcases which were filled with clothing. Wednesday’s seizure is the second for the year and followed the arrest of a St Ann’s taxi-driver in late January who was allegedly found with TT$25 million in heroin at his home.