An American tourist who was caught with fentanyl powder in his backpack has been convicted in Summary Court of illegally importing the controlled drug.
When returning her verdict against Adrian Frederick Scales, on Tuesday, 1 Aug., Magistrate Philippa McFarlane explained how she had arrived at her guilty verdict.
“The cumulative effect of the circumstantial evidence was such that there was no doubt in my mind that you were guilty of the charge, and you deliberately attempted to enter the country knowing full well that you were in possession of the illegal drug,” said McFarlane.
Scales, 26, was intercepted at Owen Roberts International Airport on 4 Oct. 2022 after Customs and Border Control officers detected 0.09 grams of fentanyl in powder form.
He denied the single charge of importation of fentanyl, opting instead for a Summary Court trial.
During his brief trial, Scales told the court that when the drug was discovered, he immediately asked for a lawyer and noted that the discovery was “serious”.
“One month after you were arrested, you gave a no-comment interview under the advice from your lawyer,” said McFarlane. “And when you came to trial, your excuse was that you had loaned your backpack out to a friend during a game of basketball because he needed something to put his shoes in.”
She added, “If this was the case, why not blurt it out when the drugs were discovered? The reason is that you had no excuse then that could stand up to the test of scrutiny.”
Although McFarlane was keen to sentence Scales, she agreed to a request to defer proceedings until September to allow the courts to be given expert evidence on fentanyl, which is still considered to be a relatively new drug of choice in the Cayman Islands.
McFarlane revoked Scales’ bail and remanded him into custody pending his sentencing next month.
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