CANU touts lighter jail-term for cocaine mules in exchange for ‘bigger fishes’
Deputy CANU Head- Leslie Ramlall
Deputy Director of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit Leslie Ramlall is recommending that an effective and less bureaucratic system to be implemented which would see persons who are contracted as cocaine mules serving less jail sentences once they agree to identify and testify against the persons who contracted them to act as mules.
Cocaine pellets which teenagers were busted with (File Photo)
Ramlall was at the time speaking at the commissioning of a brand new multi-million dollar facility at the CANU headquarters in Georgetown.
The recommendation according to Ramlall is one which was tested and tried in the past but given the time frame before the reduced sentence could have been approved for the person(s) who wanted to testify against those who hired them to transport the cocaine, the had already spent served their entire jail term.
The CANU Deputy Head related that revitalizing the prosecution techniques of the agency has been challenging especially when it comes to the arrests of mules who would like to give information of the trade and their recruiters but often ask for something in exchange, often time, their freedom or leniency.
“The challenges that we are being confronted with is while they are willing to give information as it relates to their recruiters, the challenge is that they are not willing to testify in court against the persons that recruited them” Ramlall told a gathering.
This proposal by the CANU Deputy Head if considered favorably by government through the Ministry of Public Security, is likely to see a significant dent in the drug underworld locally and the activities associated with the trade as a number of huge players are expected to find themselves trapped in CANU’s net.
“We are looking at the possibility with the help of your office to have mules who are willing to testify, have reduction in their sentence. Based on what I was able to gather, this was done before but the time frame it took was really long and by the time the time the reduction was approved, the person would have already served their time in prison” Ramlall noted as he addressed Ramjattan directly.
While the initiative is regarded as a positive one towards eradication of the drug trade and denting its operations, there is said to be a number of legal ramifications which all have to be properly considered to ensure that the process is one which is smooth and effective.
