North East La Penitence man jailed, fined $3.4M for cocaine trafficking
Forty-seven-year-old Ian Griffith of North East La Penitence, Georgetown was on Wednesday sentenced to three years and one month behind bars after he was found guilty of having 2.330 kilograms of cocaine in his possession.
The ruling was handed down by Magistrate Zamilla Ally at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court upon the conclusion of the trial. In addition, Griffith was fined $3.4 million.
He was arrested on March 3, 2022, with the cocaine during an operation by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) between Ruby, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) and Den Amstel on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD). The street value of the cocaine at the time was $2.6 million.
In August 2016, Griffith and another person were charged and remanded to prison after a quantity of cocaine was discovered in a suitcase belonging to a 14-year-old boy.
In late August 2016, the boy was awaiting a flight to New York at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) when Police uncovered the cocaine in the handles of his suitcase. He was later released, and Griffith and the other person were charged.
They were arraigned on separate charges which stated that on August 26, 2016, they trafficked 1.004kg of cocaine.