Three sentenced for importing ganja

Three men were sentenced last Thursday for importing ganja into the Cayman Islands from Jamaica in January, but only two of them accepted responsibility for 350 pounds. 

The third man, Paul Samuel Betty, admitted bringing in 10 pounds. He told police he had paid US$500 for the trip because he wanted a better life in Cayman. Betty, 44, had been deported from this jurisdiction in 2010 for working without a permit. 

The other two men, Wesley Oliver Barrett and Tetla Charles Warner, had also been deported previously.  

Crown Counsel Candia James told Chief Magistrate Nova Hall that the defendants were apprehended after a Royal Cayman Islands Police Service operation that included the Uniform Support Group, the K-9 Unit, the Drugs and Serious Crime Task Force and the Marine Unit.  

On 22 January, around 9pm, members of the Marine Unit observed a vessel in the waters off East End with five people on board. When the vessel beached, a single person approached it and all six began unloading the vessel. 

When a bid was made to apprehend them, five ran in different directions. 

The Marine Unit secured the vessel and 20 packages. The three defendants were captured withing hours, Ms James reported. 

Warner, 43, told police it was their intention to bury the ganja. He did not know its value, but in Jamaica it would be Ja$4,000 a pound. 

Barrett, 57, said he took the job because he was ill and needed money. He told authorities he would have been paid Ja$250,000 

Defence attorney John Furniss said all three deserved a discount in their sentence because of their early guilty plea. All three also gave police a description and name for the Caymanian individual who was the organiser for the shipment. 

His instructions were that the men would give evidence if the organiser is brought to court.  

The magistrate accepted that the men should be given some credit for their pleas despite being caught red-handed.  

Warner and Barrett were given terms of three years; Betty received one year. 

Each were given nine-month sentences for their immigration offences, which included illegal landing. 

Ms James did not hand up certificates of analysis for the vegetable matter because testing had not been completed. However, Mr. Furniss said the defendants accepted that the substance was ganja. 

Asked about its disposal, the magistrate said it may be destroyed at the discretion of the Crown once testing was completed, “on the basis that someone else may be out there.” 

Mention was made out of court as to the location of one of the other men allegedly involved. There were no comments about two others.