Drug trafficking-Man gets eight years, Roche Caïman couple arrested |09 October 2012

In a separate incident, a couple from Roche Caiman are being detained on suspicion of drug trafficking.

In the first incident, Stravens was arrested on December 30, 2010 after he was stopped and searched by prison authorities while delivering a consignment of gas cylinders to the Montagne Posée prison.

A thorough search by the prison guards of a pick-up vehicle that was being used by Stravens to deliver the gas cylinders revealed a package hidden between the gas cylinders. The package contained two boxes of cigarettes, one lighter, five packets containing a consignment of suspected illegal drugs wrapped in light brown tape and newspaper.

Acting on their suspicions the prison guards immediately contacted the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA) who arrested Stravens and seized the drugs for forensic analysis and investigation.

The case was investigated by the NDEA and culminated in the Supreme Court when the accused pleaded guilty and received a sentence of eight years imprisonment.

This seizure, consisting of 340 grammes of cannabis, clearly indicates that measures to prevent illegal drugs entering the prison and the improved information sharing methods between the NDEA and other law enforcement agencies are proving effective.

With regard to the second incident, NDEA agents operating in the Roche Caïman area on the night of October 1 interrupted what appears to have been a family business trading in illegal drugs.

Following a search of a private dwelling, two persons – a husband and wife in their 30s – were taken into custody. During the course of a search of the couple’s house the agents seized approximately R40,000 worth of drugs, including cannabis resin and herbal materials.

The couple appear to have been transacting a family business selling drugs that were being kept by them in their home. The indications are that this business had been in existence for some time, but the couple had somehow managed to keep their illegal business a secret up to the point when the NDEA intervened and seized the drugs.

The couple are being held in custody pending the forensic examination of the drugs and the preparation of a criminal case in connection with the seizure.