Crime
St Michael Resident Charged in Connection with $8 Million Cannabis Importation
"A St Michael resident, Rashad Shakiel Tremaine Wharton, has been charged with importing over $8 million worth of cannabis. Bail has been set at $1.5 million."
3 min read
Originally published by barbadostoday.bb (opens in new tab)
A 30-year-old St Michael resident has been charged in connection with the importation of over $8 million in cannabis.
Rashad Shakiel Tremaine Wharton of Block 11B Bottom Close, Wildey, appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, charged with three offences, including that he did acts preparatory for trafficking in a controlled drug, cannabis; conspiring with another to import the drug between September 1 and October 6, 2023; and trafficking the cannabis on October 6, 2023.
The drugs weighed 1036.48 kilogrammes with an estimated street value of $8 291 840.
Wharton was not required to enter a plea to the indictable offences.
While there was no objection to bail from the court prosecutor, the amount became an issue of contention for the defence.
Asking that the court be “reasonable” in its determination, defence lawyer Michael Lashley SC, who appeared for Wharton in association with attorney Tyra Trotman, said: “The principle of bail is that you must not set bail in an amount that is in denial of bail.”
He suggested that a bail amount of around $250 000 be set.
In response, Magistrate Manila Renee said: “My principle is that my bail amount must be commensurate with the offence because the more serious the offence, the more likely the possibility exists that the accused will not turn up for trial. If it is a trivial offence, I would put 700 and something dollars because the likelihood is that the accused will turn up for his trial, but when you see these more serious ones, the likelihood is that his chances for not turning up for trial increase so I have to set the bail amount commensurate to the offence.”
She then set bail at $1.5 million.
Lashley objected strenuously to that figure, asking the magistrate to reconsider and lower the amount.
“I am not reconsidering. Mr Lashley, there are things that you can do. You do not have to accept this from this court…. You can go to the High Court and bypass me,” Magistrate Renee replied. “When I see serious matters like this, I tend to set bail high.”
Even though he was granted bail, Wharton was remanded into custody as additional sureties had to be sought to meet the bail amount.
The matter was adjourned until January 31.
