No bail yet for Westmoorings drug-bust accused

THE TWO women who were granted $12 million bail this week, on charges arising from last week's multi-million-dollar drug bust at an apartment at Regents Gardens, Westmoorings, will spend another weekend in prison.

The two, Krystiana Sankar and Yannis Pebbles Augustine, have been unable to access the $6 million bail they were each granted on Monday by Port of Spain magistrate Aden Stroude.

Newsday was told neither woman has been able to access bail. Another attempt will be made for Sankar on Monday as her relatives struggle to get a surety in keeping with the conditions imposed by the magistrate.

Atiba Eligon and Jervon Cole were also denied bail. Cole returns to court on Monday, when Stroude will rule on his bail.

According to the evidence presented in court, the drugs – 1.04 kilogrammes of cocaine and 191.66 kilogrammes of marijuana – carried a total street value of $3.8 million: $400,000 for the cocaine and $3.4 million for the marijauana.

All four accused have been jointly charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Sankar faces an additional charge of possession of a firearm and ammunition allegedly found in her apartment.

They were charged on Thursday by a high-level team of investigators from the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit, police said in a statement. A fifth person, the driver of a BMW who was arrested away from the drug-bust scene, was released from custody after consultation with the DPP.

The raid which led to the arrest of the four was led by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and was made by officers from the new Special Operations Response Team (SORT).

The accused are represented by attorneys Larry Williams, Criston J Williams, Shirvani Ramkissoon, and Samuel Thomas.