Customs Reports Charge and Bail Refusal After Piarco Cocaine Seizure

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A French national preparing to board an outbound British Airways flight at Piarco International Airport was selected for further screening during an operation on Thursday 22 October, according to the Customs and Excise Division’s release dated 30 October.

Sources: Trinidad Guardian, 30 Oct ↗

Customs says officers from its investigations, canine enforcement and Piarco preventive units examined the passenger’s luggage and found 79 white packages wrapped in ball-like forms. The Guardian had reported the seizure on 30 October, attributing its account to the division.

The official release says field tests identified cocaine, with an estimated weight of 3.065 kilogrammes and a street valuation of TT$122,600. These are Customs’ reported findings and estimate, not a laboratory report or valuation independently examined by Luk It Hyah.

Sources: Ministry of Finance / Customs and Excise Division, 30 Oct ↗ · Customs and Excise Division — original release, 30 Oct ↗

The release says one individual was arrested and subsequently charged, appeared before a Master of the High Court and was denied bail. It does not identify the accused, specify the charge, give the hearing date or report a conviction. Those details should not be inferred from the announcement.

Sources: Customs and Excise Division — original release, 30 Oct ↗

Correction, 31 October: an earlier version of this article incorrectly gave 29 October as the seizure date. The original Customs release explicitly dates the operation to 22 October. The date has been corrected; the newly obtained release also supplies the charge and bail information.

Sources: Ministry of Finance / Customs and Excise Division, 30 Oct ↗ · Customs and Excise Division — original release, 30 Oct ↗