2 Venezuelans jailed for trafficking marijuana in 2020

TWO Venezuelan men were each sentenced to six years of hard labour for trafficking a quantity of marijuana when they appeared virtually before a Port of Spain magistrate on Friday.

Carlos Emilio Gomez Herrera and Carlos Alexis Salazar Barcelo were each sentenced after they entered into a plea deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and pleaded guilty to trafficking 14.3 kilogrammes of marijuana in June 2020.

The two appeared virtually before magistrate Rehanna Hosein.

The two were held by the Coast Guard on June 23, 2020, in the waters off Point-a-Pierre. They were charged by PC Nandesh Nanan two days later.

According to the facts presented by Assistant DPP Nigel Pilgrim, the two were in a pirogue which was stopped by the Coast Guard. Onboard were eight fuel kegs. The men and the boat and its contents were taken back to Coast Guard Headquarters at Staubles Bay where the police examined the contents of the kegs.

Fourteen marijuana packages were found when the second keg was cut open. One of the men, when questioned with the help of an interpreter, allegedly told police he had no knowledge of what was on the boat.

The men were cautioned, statements were taken and then charged.

Pilgrim told the court there were no mitigating factors related to the offence, pointing out that the drugs entered Trinidad and Tobago through Venezuela.

They were represented by attorney Adrian Thompson.