Williams now pleads not guilty in cocaine bust, but bail denied

One month after confessing to a cocaine trafficking charge, former media worker Zanneel Williams on Monday changed her plea to not guilty and was further remanded to prison.

Williams, 25, of Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown, made her second court appearance before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Diamond/Grove Magistrates’ Court.

On April 25, she was jointly charged with Anil Sookhoo, 33, an ex-officer of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU)of Kuru Kuru, Soesdyke/Linden Highway; and Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) officer Shameka Caesar, 27, of Durban Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown.

Williams had admitted to trafficking 9.628 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on April 22, 2022. Sookhoo and Caesar pleaded not guilty and were released on $750,000 bail.

However, during her second arraignment on Monday, which was scheduled for sentencing, Williams opted to change her plea.

The charge was re-read to her and Williams pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Scarce remanded Williams to prison until June 27, 2022.

According to reports, Williams was nabbed at the airport with 7.9kg of cocaine concealed in the walls of her laptop bag.

At the time, she was an outgoing passenger on a Jetblue flight B6 2166, which was destined for the United States.

She was arrested and taken to CANU Headquarters, where 1.6 kg of cocaine was found strapped to her body.

Based on a further investigation conducted, Sookhoo and Caesar were arrested.