Canadian remanded to prison for cocaine in Achar

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Canadian citizen Ashery Corbin of 2944 Lakeshore Boulevard West, Toronto, Canada, and also of Lot 125 Bagotsville, East Bank Demerara, charged with drug trafficking was refused bail by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on Thursday, February 27.

The 41 – year – old Cosmetologist pleaded not guilty to the offence, which alleged that on Wednesday, February 26 at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, East Bank Demerara, she had 6.116 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah told the Court that Corbin is Guyanese born, but left for Canada in 1993 and on the day in question was an outgoing passenger to Canada.

According to the Prosecutor, the defendant was in Canada when she received a phone call from Wayne Williams, requesting her to visit Guyana so that she can transport the illegal substance to Canada.

The Court heard that Williams paid Corbin’s ticket in addition to US$10,000 to smuggle the cocaine. According to Massiah, Corbin arrived in Guyana on February 19 and was scheduled to depart to Canada on February 24. However, her ticket was changed to February 26.

During procedural checks at the aiport, ranks observed through the use of scanner strange objects from her luggage. She was summoned to identify her suitcase and a subsequent search was conducted, which revealed two zip lock bags containing Achar with seed like substance, tested to be cocaine.

The case was transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court and Corbin will reappear in Court on February 28.

On Tuesday last, another cosmetologist Tishana Edwards of Lot 2 Victoria Road, Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara, faced a similar charge and the case was also transferred to Providence Magistrate’s Court. Edwards, a mother of one was charged with having in her possession 2.092 kg of cocaine for trafficking on Mash day, at CJIA. During procedural checks, ranks manning the scanner detected two bottles of cream liqueur that contained strange objects.  The defendant was an outgoing passenger on a Jamaica Airways flight destined for the JFK Airport in New York. She too was remanded to prison.