Two men, who are attached to two different companies at the Cheddi Jagan Airport, were today charged and remanded to jail over a 156-pound cocaine bust at the Airport last Thursday.
The two accused, 20-year-old Ground Handling Security Coordinator at Secure Innovations and Concepts, Koby Bakker, and 26-year-old Timehri Handling Services Shift Leader, Travis Sealey, pleaded not guilty to the cocaine trafficking charges this morning.
The Prosecution’s case is that the two were arrested during an alleged attempt to smuggle 156 pounds of cocaine onto a departing British Airways plane.
According to the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit, the two men were performing their duties at the baggage shed area while overseeing a Caribbean Airlines plane and a British Airways plane that were both being prepared for departure.
CANU agents reported that at around 5:25pm on Thursday, 22nd February, Sealey and Bakker were observed collecting two (02) black suitcases from over the fence at the airport and later exhibiting suspicious behavior. Their behaviour prompted CANU officers to conduct a secondary examination of a British Airlines unit load device.
When the baggage bin was opened, the officers discovered four (04) dark blue duffle bags with no baggage tags, along with two black suitcases without British Airlines check-in tags. The absence of proper tags heightened suspicion, and when questioned, both individuals denied knowledge of the bags.
However, upon inspecting the bags, the officers found brick-like objects wrapped in black and transparent plastic and the objects later tested positive as cocaine.
A total of 64 cocaine bricks were found with a combined weight of 156 pounds, making it the largest drug bust ever at the Cheddi Jagan Airport, according to security officials.
The two men were arrested and taken to CANU headquarters for questioning, before being taken to Court this morning.
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