Weekend in jail for Westmoorings four

UPDATE:

BAIL was denied, at least until Monday, to the four people who were arrested on Tuesday at an apartment at Regents Gardens, Westmoorings, during a multi-million-dollar drug bust.
The four – Krystiana Sankar, Aruba Eligon, Jervon Cole and Yannis Pebbles Augustine – appeared before senior magistrate Indrani Cedeno in the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrates’ Court, just after 1.30 pm yesterday.

The four were brought to court just after 11.30 am, and were greeted by heavy security because of the high-profile ongoing murder inquiry into the death of former Independent Senator Dana Seetahal. Cedeno, who presided over the Seetahal inquiry, was also the only magistrate at the courthouse, since most of the others were attending a seminar for magistrates.

The families of Eligon, Cole and Augustine prayed while they waited for the hearing to start and when it did, the four appeared tense, with Augustine crying. Their relatives packed the public seating area of the courtroom, including Maria Daniel – a partner with international auditing firm EY, and former partner of National Security Minister Stuart Young.

Their appearance was also a long one, as police prosecutors had to describe all 315 packages of marijuana, weighing 191.66 kilogrammes, with a street value of $3.4 million; and the 1.04 kilogrammes of cocaine with a street value of $400,000; the .38 revolver, ammunition, a scale, a mobile phone, a sheet and a blanket.

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

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

They were not called to plead on the indictable charges, and although their lawyers, Larry Williams, Shirvani Ramkissoon and Patrick Godson-Phillips, made applications for bail, it was denied by Cedeno because the police did not have a proper tracing of their criminal records.
The prosecution, which included Insps Rajesh Lall and Wayne Mohammed, objected to bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the offence, the market value of the drugs and the possibility of their being a flight risk, although the prosecution did not provide particulars to substantiate their objections.

They also told Cedeno although they had a preliminary criminal record for the four – both women were said to have no pending charges or convictions – they could not provide particulars for the two men who were said to have both.

Their lawyers persisted with their bail applications, but Cedeno ruled, “The court must have a proper criminal record.”
She withheld bail until Monday, when the four will return to court, but advised them of their right to apply to a judge in chambers.

Lawyers also made requests for disclosure of a case summary, which should have been presented at the first appearance, in accordance with the new Criminal Procedure Rules, telephone records and medical reports for Cole, who claimed to have been beaten by a police officer when he was arrested at Regents Gardens on Tuesday.

The four 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, police said.

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

ORIGINAL STORY:

BAIL was denied, at least until Monday, to the four people who were arrested earlier this week at an apartment at Regents Gardens, Westmoorings during a multi-million-dollar drug bust.

The four – Krystiana Sankar, Aruba Eligon, Jervon Cole and Yannis Pebbles Augustine – appeared before senior magistrate Indrani Cedeno in the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrates’ Court, just after 1.30 pm.

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

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

The four 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, police said.

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