Man caught at airport with drugs under clothing
A man selected at Owen Roberts Airport for a random pat-down search has ended up in Northward Prison for 13 years.
Magistrate Nova Hall imposed the sentence on Wednesday after hearing that Geovany Ocampo Mayorquin was attempting to export 4.32 pounds of cocaine by wearing a woman’s body garment under his clothing to hold packages of the drug close to his body.
Ocampo made the attempt on 24 July, when he was scheduled to leave on a flight to Cuba. Crown Counsel Kenneth Ferguson said Ocampo was patted down by a security guard who felt something funny. He asked what it was and Ocampo replied that his belly was fat.
The officer then requested a private search of his person. Ocampo was found to be wearing a female body suit. Asked why, he said because he was fat. The officer ran his hand over the suit and felt something bulky. Further inspection revealed 10 individual packages inside. Laboratory analysis showed the contents to be cocaine.
Mr. Ferguson said when Ocampo was interviewed by authorities, he told them he had bought the cocaine for CI$16,000 and was going to sell it in Cuba for CI$80,000.
Defence Attorney John Furniss agreed that was the first Ocampo’s first statement. However, after he had time to think things through, he explained the true circumstances.
He said Ocampo was in Cayman on work permit and was missing his wife and child in Honduras. He wanted to borrow money to go home and see them, so he went to a man who, he believed, had money. However, the man told him he didn’t have any. Later the man rang Ocampo and asked him to take the cocaine to Cuba. He would have been paid CI$14,000 on his return.
Mr. Furniss said Ocampo was dropped at the airport and began to debate whether he should go in or not. He decided to go in and obviously regretted that decision.
The maximum sentence for a first offence involving a substantial quantity of cocaine is 20 years, but Mr. Furniss submitted that Ocampo should get substantial reductions for his guilty plea and cooperation. Ocampo did not know the surname of the man, but did give a first name and a neighbourhood.
Mr. Furniss suggested that with a little effort police could have canvassed the area and found the individual.
The magistrate said she had to wonder at the defendant’s thinking. “I am not aware that Cuba is a jurisdiction that deals lightly with these offences,” she said.
In assessing how much discount Ocampo should get for his guilty plea, she pointed out that he was caught red-handed.
Mr. Furniss said the normal discount for an early plea is one-third. Further, at 42 Ocampo had no previous convictions.
All agreed that the maximum sentence is for the worst offence by the worst offender.
The magistrate recalled a ganja trial that had involved a boat chase of and gunshots [in November 1995]. Former Magistrate Peter Jackson had handed down the maximum sentence, which was seven years. Those were the types of circumstances that made the offence the worst kind, “so I can’t say this is the worst case.”
The magistrate said the substantial quantity of a hard drug and the circumstances of Ocampo’s discovery meant that if he had pleaded not guilty and was then convicted, his sentence would be close to the maximum.
She pointed out that he did answer questions about the cocaine source, but the answers did not assist. If they had, the cooperation could have greatly mitigated the sentence.
The magistrate ordered the cocaine destroyed and recommended Ocampo for deportation upon completion of his sentence.
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