Venice Keith McKenzie Stephen, of Sealy Land, Government Hill, St Michael, was fined $10,000 and spared jail for trafficking 15.5 kilogrammes of cannabis into Barbados.[1] Justice Pamela Beckles ordered him to pay $4,000 of the fine immediately, with the remaining $6,000 due in six months, and he will spend three years and 182 days behind bars if the payment is not made.[1] He was convicted, reprimanded and discharged on the possession and importation counts.[1] The case will be reviewed on 7 March 2027.[1]

Justice Beckles identified the nature and gravity of the offences, the large quantity of drugs, the sophistication and planning involved and the international, cross-border nature of the case as aggravating factors.[1] She set a six-year starting point, reduced by two years because Stephen had no previous convictions and was deemed at low risk of reoffending.[1] She said people who trafficked drugs should expect a custodial sentence, but was persuaded not to impose one by the submissions of both the prosecution and defence.[1] Defence counsel Sade Harris represented Stephen, while acting Principal State Counsel Kevin Forde prosecuted.[1]

A jury had convicted Stephen at the end of a trial before Justice Beckles in the No. 5 Supreme Court of possessing, trafficking and importing the cannabis on 15 July 2020.[2] He had pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.[3] He remained on bail after the verdict.[2] He was arrested and charged after a customs officer at EHS Freightline Limited searched a barrel consigned to him and found 40 packages of cannabis.[3] The barrel bore the name Williams Phillips and a Canadian address.[1] Stephen denied any knowledge of the drugs, saying he had ordered food.[1] He said he had asked a man named Barry, whom he had met when he lived in Canada, to send him a barrel during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]