4 years in jail, $2.3M fine for drug trafficker

Twenty-six-year-old Akeem Lashley was on Thursday sentenced to four years behind bars and fined $2.3M after confessing to trafficking three pounds of cocaine.

Lashley along with his paralyzed co-accused Andre Clarke, 43,  appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown  Magistrates’ Courts.

The charge stated that the duo on August 8, 2022, at Norton Street, Georgetown, had in their possession 1.5 kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Lashley pleaded guilty to the charge, telling the court, “I does do drugs”.

Clarke, who was represented by Attorney-at-Law Adrian Thompson, pleaded not guilty and was granted $150,000 bail.

His next court date is September 5.

Customs Anti Narcotic Unit (CANU) prosecutor, Attorney-at-Law Thalia Thompson told the court that CANU ranks swooped down on Clarke’s home where they found four parcels of cocaine.

Clarke was at home at the time, along with Lashley, Police Sergeant Dion Bascom, 33; Rodwell George, 54, and 19-year-old Serena Mentus.

The Chief Magistrate after considering Clarke’s medical condition released him on $150,000 bail.

Clarke was previously charged with trafficking cocaine in 2011. But the following year, the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew the charge against him.

Since then, he has been a person of interest to CANU, and several investigations into his operations have led to his present arrest.