A 55-year-old businessman was remanded to prison on a drug trafficking charge by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan. Keith King appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts Tuesday.
He denied the charge which alleged that on April 16, he had 2.3 kilogrammes of cocaine in his possession for the purpose of trafficking. The case continues on May 10.
King along with three other persons, including a juvenile were arrested on April 16 after ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) swooped down on a house at Bel Air Avenue, Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown and discovered a quantity of cocaine valued at GY$2.4 million.
The other persons were, however, not charged.
CANU said that King is no stranger to law enforcement as he was charged back in 2013 in relation to a quantity of cocaine that was found in a shipment of lumber.
Reports state that in 2013, King and two other men were charged with drug trafficking over the 359.8 kilogrammes of cocaine found in a container that was due to be shipped to The Netherlands.
The charge against him alleged that between January 25 and February 20, 2013 at Houston, East Bank Demerara (EBD), he procured a man to transport six pieces of lumber from Grove to Soesdyke on the EBD, which were found to contain 359.8 kilogrammes of cocaine.
King was remanded to prison after denying this charge. According to reports, the cocaine, which was equivalent to 791.643 pounds, carried an estimated street value of GY$1.5B. The legal status of this matter is unknown.
The bricks of cocaine that were allegedly found in the house*
