Two Venezuelan men were each sentenced to six years of hard labour for trafficking marijuana when they appeared virtually before a Port of Spain magistrate.[1] Carlos Emilio Gomez Herrera and Carlos Alexis Salazar Barcelo pleaded guilty to trafficking 14.3 kilogrammes of marijuana in June 2020 after entering a plea deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.[1] The two appeared virtually before magistrate Rehanna Hosein.[1]

The two men were held by the Coast Guard on June 23, 2020, in the waters off Point-a-Pierre.[1] They were charged by PC Nandesh Nanan two days later.[1] The two men were in a pirogue stopped by the Coast Guard, which had eight fuel kegs on board.[1] The men, the boat and its contents were taken to Coast Guard Headquarters at Staubles Bay, where police examined the contents of the kegs.[1] Fourteen marijuana packages were found when the second keg was cut open.[1]

One of the men, questioned with the help of an interpreter, allegedly told police he had no knowledge of what was on the boat.[1] Assistant DPP Nigel Pilgrim told the court there were no mitigating factors, pointing out that the drugs had entered Trinidad and Tobago through Venezuela.[1] The men were represented by attorney Adrian Thompson.[1]