A 48-year-old United States Citizen was sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined $3.3M after he admitted to trafficking cocaine in a false section of his carry-on luggage at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri.
Warren McKi, a father of three, pleaded guilty to the charge, which stated that on August 30, 2017, he had 1.252 kilograms of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Prosecutor of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), Konyo Sandiford told the court that McKi was an outgoing passenger on a Fly Jamaica airplane destined for JFK Airport, New York when the discovery was made.
According to the Prosecutor, a carryon luggage, which belonged to McKi, was placed on a scanner and it was discovered that two strange images were seen on the screen which appeared to be hidden in the back of the luggage.
The luggage was search by a CANU officer at the airport and two packets of cocaine were found inside. CANU also seized US$2,667 from the US citizen.
McKi appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Providence Magistrate’s Court, where he revealed that he is going through financial difficulties and took the chance to traffic the drugs.
“I moved from Guyana to America fifteen years ago and I’m now an American citizen; last year my mom die and I used all my life saving for her burial,” the unrepresented man explained.
McKi said he needed the money to send his son to college to study Medical Science. Before imposing the sentence, the Magistrate took into consideration that McKi pleaded guilty and did not waste the court’s time and the fact that he expressed remorse.
