Pembroke teenager charged with importing 16kg of cannabis resin
Ty Lawes, 19, of Pembroke was charged in Bermuda's Magistrates' Court with importing more than 16kg of cannabis resin, worth between $1 million and $3.3 million, and possessing it with intent to supply. Magistrate Auralee Cassidy released him on $50,000 bail with a surety until the case reaches the Supreme Court.
Ty Lawes, a 19-year-old from Pembroke, was charged in Bermuda’s Magistrates’
Court with smuggling more than $1 million worth of cannabis resin into the
island.[1]The charge accuses him of importing cannabis resin on 20 July 2023
and possessing cannabis resin with intent to supply on the same date.[1]He
was not required to enter a plea because the case will be heard by the Supreme
Court.[1]
The court heard the case involved more than 16kg of cannabis resin, worth
between $1 million and $3.3 million.[1]The hearing took place the day before
the report was published, on 25 February 2025.[1]
Magistrate Auralee Cassidy released him on $50,000bail with a surety.[1]She
ordered him to surrender his travel documents, report regularly to Hamilton
Police Station and not leave the island without the court’s permission.[1]The
case is expected to appear before the Supreme Court on 1 April.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Charged
1
Cannabis
16 kg
Value (official estimate)
BMD 1,000,000
Agency
Magistrates' Court
Agency type
Court
Cannabis
Hashish (16 kg)
Activity
Smuggling, Possession, Sale
Setting
Land border
Charges
importing cannabis resin; possessing cannabis resin with intent to supply
The article gives no separate date for the hearing; 25 February 2025 is used because it says Lawes was charged 'yesterday' and was published on 26 February.
The weight is given only as 'more than 16kg'; the later sentencing ruling recorded 16,855.4 grams, so 16 kg is used here as the stated lower bound.
The court heard a value of between $1 million and $3.3 million; only the lower bound is recorded as the figure.
The article does not say how the resin was allegedly brought into Bermuda, where it was seized, or whether Lawes had been in custody before the hearing.
Only The Royal Gazette account of the charge hearing could be found; no co-accused is named.
Yemariam Teshome, 21, of Ontario, pleaded not guilty in Bermuda's Supreme Court to conspiring to import more than $1 million of cannabis into the island between an unknown date and 21 June 2026, and to possessing it with intent to supply. A judge set a mention for 11 December and a fixed trial date of 15 February.
Josephine Limberopoulis, 34, and her husband Salih Burns, 32, of Paget deny having cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply, after allegedly being found with almost 69 grams of cannabis and five grams of cocaine in Pembroke. A Bermuda magistrate released both on $8,000 bail until 15 October.
A Bermuda Supreme Court jury unanimously acquitted Sandra Marrero-Guzman, 37, of conspiring to import cannabis and possessing it with intent to supply after customs found 12,876 grams of the drug in her suitcase at LF Wade International Airport in June 2025. The Crown had valued the haul at $1.3 million.
David Mathias, 67, and Danielle Mathias, 36, were charged in Bermuda's Magistrates' Court with importing cannabis and THC or shatter allegedly brought in on 10 May 2020, which the Crown valued at an estimated $6.2 million. Neither had to plead because the case goes to the Supreme Court; both were freed on $50,000 bail to the May arraignments.