The trial of seven men accused of drug smuggling-related crimes began this week in Magistrates’ Court, with pretrial motions heard yesterday and Monday.
The men were arrested after a police raid on the Liseron, a catamaran docked at the Hodges Creek Marina, on Jan. 17, 2008. Police allegedly found 59 kilograms of cocaine, valued at more than $1 million, in a concealed compartment on the boat.
Mario Pemberton, Coy Penn, Asif Glasgow and Dale Nibbs were arrested after the alleged police discovery. They face charges of being concerned in the importation of a controlled drug, unlawful possession of cocaine and conspiracy to supply a controlled drug to another.
Dexter Chance, Gareth McDowall and Carlos Sutherland were arrested in St. Vincent in connection with the case and extradited to the Virgin Islands last June, after a challenge to the extradition was defeated in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal. They face charges of importation of cocaine.
Additional charges of unlawful possession of cocaine against Messrs. Chance, McDowall and Sutherland, and charges of conspiracy to import a controlled drug against all the defendants, were formally dismissed yesterday by Senior Magistrate Valerie Stephens for being laid on the defendants later than allowed by law.
See the March 24, 2011 edition for full coverage.