Dones Benjamins, 47, from Cap Haitien was sentenced to five years in prison, after pleading guilty to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, to several charges related to drug trafficking, following the seizure of nearly 2 million dollars of cocaine in Inagua last weekend. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22961-haiti-bahamas-very-large-amount-of-drug-discovered-on-a-haitian-cargo.html

Four Haitian co-defendants, Walter Gustave, Marc Evens Belfort, Ifrandieu Clermonvil and Vickson Polydor, said they were unaware of their compatriot's actions and pleaded not guilty to Judge Andrew Forbes. They will be tried on February 28, 2018 and placed in pre-trial detention.

According to the prosecution, at about 4:45 pm on December 9, agents of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) stationed in Inagua, following intelligence, went to the southern end of a dock and boarded of a Haitian cargo to conduct a search, suspected of carrying drugs and firearms.

In the engine room, DEU agents found 43 packages containing cocaine in a concealed compartment. Due to poor lighting and daylight saving time, officers had to suspend their search and everyone on the cargo ship was taken into custody. The next day they returned to continue their search and discovered another hidden and sealed compartment that required the use of a blowtorch to open it where they found another 63 drug packs.

In total, the agents found 106 packages of cocaine weighing 273 lbs, estimated at $ 1,749,000.

When questioned with the help of a translator, Dones Benjamins cook of the Haitian cargo crew, confessed, admitted all the offenses and pleaded guilty. Mr. Reckley, his lawyer, during a pleading explained that his client, a farmer by profession, had never had problems in Haiti or previous convictions in that jurisdiction. He told the magistrate that his client had gone through difficult times and after an opportunity arose, Benjamins made an "imprudent" decision for which he was today "full of remorse". Recalling that his client cooperated fully with the police since his first interrogation.

However, Judge Forbes stated that despite the extenuating circumstances mentioned, the fact that Benjamins made so much effort to conceal so many packages of cocaine in the boat and then travel from Haiti to the Bahamas to resell these narcotics was an aggravating factor and sentenced Benjamins to 5 years for possession of narcotics and 3 years for importing narcotics into the Bahamas. The sentences running simultaneously, Benjamin will remain incarcerated 5 years in total.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22961-haiti-bahamas-very-large-amount-of-drug-discovered-on-a-haitian-cargo.html

SL/ HaitiLibre