Police have arrested and charged a nurse in connection with the 60kgs of cocaine allegedly found at the Owia Clinic on Jan. 22.
On Wednesday (today), Lucresha Nanton, 34, of Owia, appeared before the Serious Offences Court, charged that on Jan. 22, at Owia, she had in her possession a controlled drug, to wit 59,939 grammes of cocaine, with intent to supply it to another.
Nanton was also charged with possession of the drug for the purpose of drug trafficking.
She pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Prosecutor Station Sergeant of Police Renrick Cato did not object to Nanton’s bail.
He asked the court to order Nanton to surrender her travel documents, impose reporting conditions and issue stop notices.
Regarding the bail amount, Cato said:
“It’s 59,939 grammes of cocaine. That’s 54 kilos. That is EC$30,000 per kilo by 54 — $1,620,000 is the figure,” Cato said.
However, the drug actually amounts to 59.94 kilograms, which at EC$30,000 per kilogram, amounts to a value of EC$1,798,200.
Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne said that the bail amount would be “a heavy sum” and that she would have to “shackle” the defendant with other sanctions as finding a surety with that capability in the jurisdiction would be difficult.
Meanwhile, Nanton’s lawyer, Ronald “Ronnie” Marks urged the court not to impose a bail figure that would amount to a denial of bail.
He said that Nanton’s parents were trying to get a copy of their deed and that her passport was in Owia.
The lawyer asked the court if his client could surrender her passport to the Owia Police Station.
The chief magistrate denied the application.
Browne set bail at EC$200,000 with two sureties and ordered Nanton to surrender her travel documents.
The court ordered that stop notices be placed at ports of entry and exit and that Nanton must obtain the permission of the court to leave the jurisdiction.
She is to report to the Owia Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The next hearing is set for June 20.
Nanton was taken to prison, pending the satisfaction of her bail criteria.
Police reportedly found the drug in a barrel inside the Owia Clinic during an operation on Jan. 22.
Is she the scape goat?
How does 59,939g equate to 54kg? What happened to the other 5kg?
Svg is full of fart … because if you found it in a clinic how the hell you could say it’s in her possession . If it wasn’t on her at the time it’s not her’s. Anybody could have placed that in the clinic .
You are helping ppl with one hand and destroy ppl wit the other?? Good judgement mrs brown
Infarmers badmind
If I remember the original cocaïne story, some man was picked up but was quickly granted bail. Now months later this nurse is charged. Taking the incompetence of the SVG Police into account, they don’t have a thing to connect this person to the drugs unless she confessed but It would be no surprise if she get the same treatment as in the C.John case where the culprit get off free. I also believe there is more cocaïne where that came from and it’s time for the simpleton commissioner to resign or be fired along with at least half of the Police force. I would like to hear Patrick F. opinion on this. on second thought the real bosses will go over corpses to conceil this.
Difficult one to prove people bring things asking you to secure it you say yes next thing is drugs and you can’t prove you are not involved the same thing with taking packages from home to people abroad don’t accept anything unless the person could open it and show you what it is a cake you poke it all through with a knife and fork before placing in your luggage
That’s right Beamer.POKE the BEAST maybe it might just howl.A simple nurse toting that amount of white cement that did not fall on her like manna but like a ton of bricks and can’t even post bail?Poor scape cat.
Having the keys to the clinic does not prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The prosecutor has to show things like finger print and DNA to tie her to the crime. Other factors such as having the only keys to the premises are circumstantial evidence. They all go together to prove guilt or innocence.
Anybody with an ounce of common sense knows that the accused is just a pawn and not the real Kingpin. But I won’t be surprised if she gets off easy because everything might be already paid for[…] I bet all the training in Russia and Cuba won’t help the cops crack the case. It’s a pity the real owner will not even see the inside of the magistrate courts. I wonder what the cops are going to do with the stash. It might end up where it was intended to end up anyway.
Is she still on the job or is she on suspension ?
That was sure a scapegoat messed up. How did police knew exactly where to look for the drugs, someone had to plant that on her because of jealousy. Hope she could pull herself out of that mess.