By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A Surinamese man yesterday claimed the reason he swallowed over 100 packages of cocaine and attempted to smuggle the drugs into The Bahamas last week was because he was in too deep and would have been killed if he tried to back out of the plan.

Robert Linger, 35, of Paramaribo City, Suriname, told Assistant Chief Magistrate Subusola Swain he planned to bail out of the plan to smuggle the 105 packages of drugs, but when he told his “employers” of his decision, they informed him death would be his only way out.

Linger said he even thought about showing up for his designated flight and hiding somewhere in the airport, but said his “employers” told him they had all of the airport’s security personnel on the take, and that he would be immediately discovered and killed.

Despite the reasons he gave in his bid to explain why he should not be given the maximum penalty under the law, Assistant Chief Magistrate Swain sentenced the man to two years and six months in prison for his actions.

A similar sentence of two years was handed down on his fellow countryman, 27-year-old Lerby Amiemba, for swallowing 65 packages of cocaine in a bid to smuggle them into the country.

According to the facts read out by police prosecutor Assistant Superintendent Clifford Daxon, both men came in on the same Caribbean Air flight from Suriname on October 16.

Concerning Linger, around 2.15am on the date in question, police officers at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) observed various passengers disembarking a Caribbean Air flight. Two of those were Linger and Amiemba, who police approached and identified themselves.

The officers subsequently searched the men and their baggage, which yielded negative results. But in speaking with the men, officers noticed they were acting in a nervous, suspicious manner. As a result, they were taken into custody.

The pair were taken to hospital and given an X-ray, which revealed abnormal items in their stomachs. The men were subsequently given medication, which caused Linger and Amiemba to excrete 105 and 65 packages of cocaine, respectively.

The drugs Linger carried weight weighed two pounds, four ounces, while those Amiemba held weighed 1.8 pounds.

Both were later taken to a police station and interviewed with the assistance of an interpreter. While being interrogated, Linger admitted to being in possession of the cocaine, having swallowed the drugs and brought the packages into the country.

Both men were also found with $400 apiece, for which they couldn’t give a satisfactory explanation.

When asked by the assistant chief magistrate why he shouldn’t get the maximum penalty for his actions, Linger, with the assistance of an interpreter, said he was in a “crisis” in that his mother has severe breast cancer and desperately needs a surgery.

He said he works as a truck driver in his homeland, but said the work and the pay, isn’t consistent enough to make ends meet.

Linger said he eventually met two tourists who told him they had connections in the trucking industry, and that they would use those connections to provide him with more consistent opportunities. However, Linger said after he became better acquainted with those two individuals, they told him they actually did not have any connections in the trucking industry, but in fact sold drugs.

Linger said they told him he had the opportunity to make $10,000 US dollars if he worked for them.

Linger said once the concept was presented to him, he spoke with various people in his social circle about it, but after hearing about how risky being a drug mule was, given the severity of the crime under Bahamian laws, he agreed it was indeed too big of a risk and decided to turn down the plan.

The problem with that was, according to Linger, he had already given his “employers” his passport. And when he told them he wanted out, they told him it was his decision to make, but that they would kill him if he did not follow through.

Linger said he then came up with a plan to show up to the airport, get checked into the flight, and then hide somewhere in the airport and miss his flight and hopefully go off his “employers” radar, but said they told him they knew all the security in the airport and that they would find out.

He claimed going to the police was also not an option, because the police and security forces were basically one and the same, and that once they found out, he would be executed on the spot.

Nonetheless, the assistant chief magistrate sentenced Linger to two years and six months on each count of possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply, and importation of dangerous drugs, to run concurrently.

Amiemba was sentenced to two years each on those same charges, to run concurrently. The drugs were ordered to be destroyed and the $400 they each had were ordered confiscated and forfeited to the Crown.

Meanwhile, Ronrick Rao’ul Simms, of Marsh Harbour, Abaco, was ordered to pay an $8000 fine or face three years in prison after pleading guilty to being caught with marijuana with the intent to supply the same to another on October 19. His co-accused, David Antonio Sturrup, of Hanna Road West, pleaded not guilty to the charge.