A family of Surinamese visitors who were caught trying to smuggle cocaine into the Cayman Islands, hidden inside the false soles of sneakers, have been jailed by the Grand Court.
The ring-leader in the plot to traffic 6.7 pounds of cocaine into the territory, Onica Violetta Barclay, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Her boyfriend, Vidol Anfernie La Fleur, received a sentence of eight years and three months and her mother, Sheron Ann Moses, was sentenced to six years and seven months for their respective roles in the plot.
Appearing via video link from Cayman’s men’s and women’s prisons on Wednesday afternoon, the trio listened in tears as Justice Cheryll Richards handed down her judgment.
Barclay, 43, is said to have been the dominant participant who organised the drug smuggling and enlisted La Fleur, 26, and Moses, 65.
“Had it not been for her actions the other defendants may very well have never attempted to smuggle drugs into the Cayman Islands,” said Richards.
The trio, who all pleaded guilty to importation of cocaine charges, initially departed Suriname and flew to Guyana, then to Trinidad, before moving on to Jamaica and finally arriving in Cayman on 5 Oct. 2022.
They were travelling together and had booked the same hotel; however, when questioned by Customs and Border Control officials they denied knowing each other, claiming instead that they were each travelling alone.
“Their identical travel history and hotel reservation caused officers to become suspicious,” said Richards as she read from her sentencing judgment.
“When searched, officers discovered 1,225 grams of cocaine in Mr. La Fleur’s luggage; 1,165 grams of cocaine in Ms Barclay’s luggage; and 693 grams in Ms Moses’s luggage.”
The drugs were discovered in fake soles of 10 pairs of sneakers – initially prompting a unified cry of ignorance and innocence. In total, CBC officers found 3,035 grams, or 6.7 pounds, of cocaine.
‘A guy called One Foot gave me the drugs’
La Fleur and Moses claimed that they did not know any drugs were in the sneakers and that they were asked to carry the shoes because Barclay’s luggage was overweight.
Barclay, on the other hand, claimed that she was asked to transport the shoes by a man who she only knew as ‘One Foot’, to whom she was introduced by a family member called George, in exchange for US$3,000.
A separate smaller quantity of cocaine was also excreted by Barclay, who told officers that it was a form of medication to treat her depression.
Following their arrest, all three defendants went on to enter guilty pleas to the counts.
When handing down their sentences, Richards stated there were several aggravating factors which include the significant degree of planning, demonstrated by the route taken and the fact that they were able to evade customs officials at three other separate borders.
Another aggravating factor that was taken into account, was the amount of drugs involved. According to Richards, the volume of cocaine recovered would suggest that this was but a small part of a larger amount.
“This is an offence of the most upmost seriousness and requires the strongest possible type of condemnation,” said Richards, who began the sentencing process with a starting point of 15 years for La Fleur.
The judge reduced the sentence to eight years and three months to reflect the guilty plea, the fact that he would have to serve a sentence in a foreign land, and his previous good character.
Turning her attention to Barclay, who begged for mercy and wept over the video link, Richards started with a sentence of 16 years.
The final sentence was reduced to nine years for the early guilty plea and her previous good character.
Finally, Richards returned a sentence of six years and seven months to Moses after reducing the 12-year starting point for similar reasons.
Richards ordered that all the time spent in custody to be deducted from their sentence and the cocaine is to be destroyed.
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