Two foreign nationals appeared before an Arima magistrate yesterday charged with trafficking in cocaine, arising out of two separate instances. In the first case Nigerian national Christopher Odikabue was denied bail after he appeared before Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno charged with trafficking 715 grammes of cocaine which was allegedly found hidden in mascara bottles.
Odikabue was charged with local PH driver Shawn Campbell with trafficking the drugs on Friday in La Horquetta. Odikabue was represented by Lal Krishna Doodnath while his co-accused was represented by Hugh Jacobs. Both men pleaded not guilty. Odikabue, the court heard, has a pending matter for a similar nature and was recently granted bail in that matter. His attorney denied his client was recently granted bail as suggested by arresting officer Cpl Manswell of the La Horquetta Police Station. Odikabue said he was granted bail in 2010 and has been on the outside since then.
Doodnath said his client lived at Mc Carthy Street, Sangre Grande. After listening to both the defence and prosecution Cedeno denied bail, saying the matter was a serious. She adjourned the case to April 13.
Campbell, who was also charged with possession of .77 grammess of marijuana, to which he pleaded guilty. Campbell told the court he was a PH driver and wanted a fine as he has to care for his ailing mother. Jacobs told Cedeno his client was a 29-year-old father of two who lived at Chinapoo Village, Morvant.
After hearing Campbell was a PH driver and that the cocaine he is jointly charged with Odikabue for being in possession of, Cedeno reduced his bail from $500,000 to $250,000. On the marijuana charge he was fined $1,500. In the second case German national Christopher Gegenheimer was ordered to pay $30,000 by the end of the working day of the Arima Magistrate’s Court or spend two years in jail. The ruling was made by Cedeno after Gegenheimer pleaded guilty to trafficking 1.92 kilograms of cocaine.
The drugs, Cedeno heard, was found in his crotch and in the soles of his Saucony sneakers. According to police the drugs were found during a search at the Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) branch in Piarco on February 24, after Gegenheimer failed to answer simple questions when approached by customs officials. At the time he was heading to Barbados aboard Liat flight LI 362.
Gegenheimer’s attorney Hugh Jacobs told the magistrate his client was a student studying airport operations and management. The 21-year-old, he said, had come for Carnival and overstayed his time in the country due to the festivities. Jacobs said attempts to get money from his relatives abroad to pay for the change in ticket was unsuccessful and he was in need of cash.