Venezuelan Frank Garcia and Grenadian Alister Haynes, who are on remand on cocaine-related charges, are to be sentenced on June 11 for breaching the immigration regulations of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
Haynes pleaded guilty to multiple charges of breaching the immigration laws when they appeared before the Serious Offences Court on Thursday, the fourth time since being arrested on April 20.
Haynes pleaded guilty to charges that on April 20, 2026, at Cumberland:
- he knowingly and wilfully allowed himself to be landed as a prohibited immigrant;
- he entered St Vincent and the Grenadines other than a port of entry;
- he entered St Vincent and the Grenadines by boat and disembarked without the consent of an immigration officer;
- being a prohibited immigrant, he entered SVG by boat without a passport.
Garcia, speaking through an interpreter who is a member of the SVG Coast Guard Service, had already pleaded guilty in April to similar immigration-related charges.
Following the pleadings, Chief Magistrate Colin John adjourned the matter to June 11 for presentation of the facts and for sentencing.
Garcia and Haynes, who arrived in SVG by yacht, were arrested at Cumberland on April 20 and taken, along with the yacht, to the Coast Guard base at Calliaqua.
Police have alleged that containers and packages of cocaine, which amounted to 434.2 kilos were found during a search.
Garcia and Haynes were jointly charged that on April 20, at Calliaqua, they had in their possession 434.2 kilos of cocaine for the purpose of drug-trafficking.
They were also charged with attempting to import 434.2 kilos of cocaine, and that they had in their possession 434.2 kilos of cocaine with intent to supply to another.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the cocaine charges.
The prosecutor, Inspector of Police Renrick Cato, applied for an adjournment, telling the court he had yet to receive the case file.
Haynes is being represented by Vincentian lawyer Grant Connell, and Garcia is being represented by Grenadian counsel Richie Maitland, a former prosecutor at SVG’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.