The Crown continued to present witnesses last week in the case against seven men accused of cocaine-smuggling crimes.
Dale Nibbs, Asif Glasgow, Coy Penn and Mario Pemberton, all of the Virgin Islands, are charged with being concerned in the importation of a controlled drug, unlawful possession of cocaine and conspiracy to supply a controlled drug to another.
Dexter Chance, Carlos Sutherland and Gareth McDowall, of St. Vincent, are charged with importation of cocaine.
The four VI defendants were arrested after police allegedly seized 59 kilograms of cocaine, valued at more than $1 million, in January 2008, from a hidden compartment on board the catamaran Liseron. Messrs. Chance, McDowall and Sutherland were arrested in St. Vincent and extradited to the VI last June, after a challenge to the extradition was defeated in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal.
Another man, Chesley Balkaran, a former maintenance supervisor at Sunsail St. Vincent, pleaded guilty in April 2008 to importation of a controlled drug, unlawful possession of cocaine and being concerned in the supply of cocaine. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Mr. Balkaran was allegedly approached by Mr. McDowall in St. Vincent in 2008, and brought to meet Messrs. Chance and Sutherland, acting Principal Crown Counsel Tiffany Scatliffe said in her opening statement.
Last Thursday, Mr. Balkaran, whose jovial manner drew surprised comments from defence lawyers, testified that Mr. Chance encouraged him to get a passport so he could travel to the VI as part of the drug smuggling operation, an allegation that Mr. Chance’s lawyer, Stephen Daniels, aggressively challenged during cross-examination. Mr. Daniels also represents Mr. Nibbs.
See the April 7, 2011 edition for full coverage.