CANU seeks shorter jail time for drug mules willing to testify

The Deputy Head for the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Lesley Ramlall on Thursday asked the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan for assistance in implementing a shorter prison sentence for drug mules willing to testify against their recruiters in the court.

“Based upon what I have gathered, this was done before but the timeframe it took was really long, so by the time it was approved the person would have already served their time in prison,” Ramlall said during the opening of CANU’s newly constructed Headquarters at Homestretch Avenue in Georgetown.

According to Ramlall, after mules are arrested, they provide all the information about their recruiters but do not want to go on record.

“We are seeing the arrest of several mules, the challenge we are being confronted with is while these mules are willing and have already give us information as to their recruiters…the challenge here is that they are not willing to testify in court,” Ramlall said.

The CANU official made reference to a recent case where 55-year-old Sandra Angela Profitt was nabbed with seven pounds of cocaine strapped to her body at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, Ogle East Coast Demerara on April 29.

“The challenge we had with that case is where the woman initially after she would have identified who was her recruiter and give us all of the information, she was reluctant to testify against him in court, Ramlall said.

Profitt was sentenced to four years jail and fined $9.1M after pleading guilty to the drug trafficking charge.

Ramlall also said CANU has encountered the same challenge with several other mules arrested within the last two years.