Home News 2 women nabbed after CJIA cocaine bust
Two females are currently in custody after one of them was busted with cocaine at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
The suspected cocaine mule has been identified has Shellon Yolanda Barrow of Lot 135 Victoria Street, Albouystown, Georgetown.
The discovery was made sometime at 00:29h by ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU). At the time, Barrow was an outgoing passenger on a flight destined for Jamaica.
According to CANU, the suspect was attempting to board the flight with the suspected cocaine concealed in a false wall of her hard cover carry-on suitcase. After the substance was extracted, it was weighed and amounted to 1.638 kilogram of cocaine.
Barrow was taken into custody. Meanwhile, further investigations have resulted in CANU ranks taking another female into custody for questioning regarding her role in the illegal act.
This incident comes on the heels of Guyanese Alicia Coppin admitting to ranks from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) at the JFK International Airport in New York on Tuesday that she had inserting a quantity of the narcotics into her vaginal cavity and swallowed another amount.
According to reports, Coppin was seen acting in a suspicious manner, and DEA agents proceeded to question her and conduct a search during which, she made the confession. An X-ray examination was then performed on the woman confirming her claim. Coppin was later taken to a medical facility, where she excreted the drugs, the amount of which has not been disclosed.
Meanwhile only last Sunday, another New York-bound Guyanese, hairdresser Karen Stuffle, was busted by CANU ranks at the CJIA with 100 cocaine pellets, totalling 1.42 kilograms, stashed in her vagina and stomach. She was subsequently sentenced in a local court to four years imprisonment and fined $2.3 million for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the USA.
In fact, after admitting to the offence on Thursday, the 48-year-old Stuffle told the court she had been paid some US$400 to traffic the narcotics, and her airfare had also been paid in full.