Police in Antigua and Barbuda arrested a man they said was from Dominica with marijuana weighing 90.9 pounds.[1] The 49-year-old man was arrested together with a 33-year-old Antiguan woman.[1] The ONDCP intercepted the Dominican man and the Antiguan woman, both residents of All Saints, on 15 May 2018.[2] Albert Baker, 49, and Kerion Friday, 33, appeared before Magistrate Conliffe Clarke in the St. John’s Magistrates’ Court facing 12 charges related to 90.9 pounds of cannabis.[3]
Officers intercepted the pair in St. Johnston’s village in a vehicle containing 18.4 pounds of cannabis.[3] Each was charged with possession, possession with intent to transfer, being concerned in the supply of cannabis and drug trafficking.[3] A search warrant at a Linsey, Parham village home that Baker frequented found another 72.5 pounds of marijuana.[3] He was charged with four further counts of possession, possession with intent to transfer, being concerned in the supply of cannabis and drug trafficking.[3] The drugs’ total weight was 90.9 pounds, with an estimated wholesale value of EC$360,360.[2] Officers also seized US$1,315 and EC$6,370.25.[3]
Baker was remanded to prison after a prosecutor called him a flight risk because he travelled often between Dominica, Antigua, Guadeloupe and St. Maarten.[3] The prosecutor objected to bail because Baker travelled often between Dominica, Antigua, Guadeloupe and St. Maarten.[3] Friday was offered bail of $146,000, needed $14,000 to secure her release, and had to surrender her travel documents.[3] She also had to report to All Saints Police Station on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and ask the court before changing address.[3]
Baker pleaded guilty on 9 October 2020.[4] On 3 December 2020 Justice Iain Morley sentenced him to 22 months in Her Majesty’s Prison for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.[4] The sentencing account described the cannabis as 89 pounds worth $360,000, seized on the afternoon of 15 May 2018 while ONDCP officers were on duty in St. Johnson’s Village.[4]