Witness testifies to counting, marking cocaine stashed in lumber

$550M Zeelugt drug bust

Another witness on Wednesday took the stand as the $550 million cocaine-in-lumber trial of race car driver Nazim Gafoor; his father, Tazim Gafoor; biker Stephen Vieira and Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) agent Sherwayne DeAbreu continued.
Rickford Sanko testified before Magistrate Rochelle Liverpool at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court to taking, counting, marking and packaging the cocaine, which was stashed in the lumber.

The drug, according to the witness, was placed in Ziploc bags and envelopes marked RS 16CE along with various numbers.
Following this, the packages were separated and wrapped in paper tape.
The first witness to take the stand was Hakeem Mohammed, a drug trafficker who agreed to testify against his alleged co-conspirators in exchange for leniency from the courts. His testimony lasted for some four hours as he responded to a battery of questions by Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford.
Last May, ranks of the Unit swooped down on a lumber yard at Lot 227 Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), where they conducted a search on a truck that was laden with several pallets of 1×6 dressed lumber that was being prepared for export to the United States. A total of 84.986 kilograms of cocaine was discovered stashed in the lumber.
An investigation carried out led to the arrest of the Gafoors, Vieira, DeAbreu and Mohammed. In May 2017, the Gafoors and Vieira appeared before Magistrate Liverpool and pleaded not guilty to the charge read to them.
That charge alleged that between March 1, 2017 and May 12, 2017, they aided Hakeem Mohammed in trafficking 84.986 kilograms of cocaine at Narine Lall’s Sawmill at Lookout, Parika, EBE. They were all remanded to prison.
However, acting Chief Justice Roxane George granted bail to the younger Gafoor and Vieira when their Attorneys, Latchmie Rahamat and Stanley Moore made a bail petition in the High Court. The special reason presented for bail to be granted was the fact no evidence was ever presented to the court that proved that the defendants were in possession of any drugs.
Documents previously presented to the court also indicated that the younger Gafoor suffered from epilepsy. It was also put forward to the acting Chief Justice that the trial would take a long time, since the prosecution has secured 31 statements and the two men were not flight risks.
The older Gafoor, along with DeAbreu, was also later granted bail.