Walter Oneal Prescod told police he had concealed more than 120 kilogrammes of cannabis on a yacht and planned to sell it to pay for his wife’s cancer medication, a jury heard on Wednesday.
Prescod, now 63, of Emerald Park East, St Philip, is facing charges of possessing 121.4 kilogrammes of cannabis within Barbados’ territorial waters, importing it and having a traffickable quantity of the illegal substance on July 23, 2018.
Testifying as Prescod’s trial continued before a nine-member jury, acting Inspector Ricardo Ottley, who was attached to the Narcotics Unit at the time, said he and another officer went to question Prescod at Oistins Police Station two days after his arrest.
While in custody, Prescod asked to speak to his attorney Arthur Holder. After doing so, he told officers: “He tell me to cooperate, so leh we talk”, the court heard.
When asked about the drugs found on the boat, Prescod responded: “I is who responsible for the cannabis.”
Questioned on what he planned to do with the drugs when he got to Barbados, he said: “I was supposed to look for buyers to sell to so I could get money to help my wife buy her cancer medication. I ain’t gine leave out this cause I was trying to help my wife, but she don’t know anything about this.”
After answering several other questions during the interview, Prescod consented to giving a written statement.
In the account, he said he was employed by Goddard’s Enterprises as a sailor aboard its vessel Ecstasy. He had worked there for four years, and his immediate boss was Christopher Rogers. His duties included helping steer the boat and performing maintenance. The vessel went to Grenada annually for maintenance, and he accompanied it and stayed in apartments near the dock.
Prescod said that sometime in May that year, he sailed with Rogers and others to Grenada to have the vessel repaired, but he could not recall the others’ names. He remained in Grenada while Rogers and the others returned to Barbados by air, and he retained the vessel’s key.
The statement continued: “While I was in Grenada, I met a man while I was liming by a shop. I do not remember his name. We were talking about a lot of different things. They also had some men around the shop who were smoking marijuana. I started to tell this man that my wife has cancer and that the medication for her is very expensive.
“As we were talking about the situation with my wife, I asked the guy if I could get some marijuana to take back up to Barbados so I can make some money to help my wife with her medication. He told me that he could get some for me. I tell him about 100 pounds or so will be good. He told me that when he gets it, he will let me know. I would normally go liming by the same shop everyday to see if he is there so I can find out when he is bringing the marijuana for me.
“Sometime in June, I saw the guy and he tell me that he has the marijuana for me. I arranged for him to pick me up on the road with his vehicle with the marijuana in it and we would drive into the dockyard and place the marijuana in the vessel.”
Prescod told officers that when the man picked him up in a blue jeep, they travelled to the dockyard, where he showed his pass to security and entered the area.
“This was around midday. I helped the guy take the marijuana from the jeep and put it in the vessel. They move four sugar bags, one black bag and four taped packages with the marijuana. The guy placed the marijuana in the area next to the water tanks. He is smaller than I am, so I allowed him to place the marijuana in the areas. After he placed the marijuana in the areas, I locked back up the vessel and we both left.”
Prescod said that sometime afterwards, Rogers contacted him because of bad weather and told him to return to Barbados until it cleared. His boss bought a ticket for him, and he returned home with the vessel’s key, which he told officers he had not left with anyone else “at no time”.
He returned to Grenada in July with Rogers. Charles Herbert joined them the following day, and they sailed the boat back to Barbados.
After clearing Customs and sailing into the Shallow Draught, Herbert and Rogers left the yacht and went home while Prescod stayed to clean and was joined by several of Rogers’ employees, Prescod said.
He continued: “I then saw the Coast Guard officers. They came on board the vessel and told us to stop doing whatever we were doing because they were going to conduct a search of the vessel. The Coast Guard personnel then conducted a search of the vessel and they found one of the sugar bags with the marijuana.
“The Coast Guard officer told me that he wanted to speak to Mr Rogers. I called him and told him. Mr Rogers and Mr Herbert then came back to the vessel. The Coast Guard officers continued to search and they found the other sugar cane bags, the black duffel bag and the four taped packages of marijuana.
“If the Coast Guard guy did not search the vessel and find the marijuana, I would have found a way to take the marijuana off the boat myself and take it and stash it. I would have looked for people to buy the marijuana, so I could make some money to help buy the medication for my wife. Mr Rogers and Mr Herbert do not know anything about the marijuana. I am very sorry for doing this. I did it solely for the purpose of helping my wife. I am very remorseful.”
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC and acting Senior State Counsel Paul Prescod are representing the State, while defence attorneys Sade Harris and Elan Greenidge represent Prescod. Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell presides.
The trial continues on Thursday.
(JB)
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