By Latrishka Thomas
A man who brought over one pound of cannabis to Antigua in his suitcases, has been fined double the cost the illegal drug.
Glenroy Herbert, a Barnes Hill villager who now lives in the United States, arrived in Antigua over the weekend aboard a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey.
Officers were on duty at the airport when a canine sniffed and alerted the officers to the presence of the contraband in one of the defendant’s suitcases.
The cops therefore kept the bag under surveillance and observed Herbert take two grey and one black suitcase from the baggage claim area.
The police approached the defendant and told him that they suspected that his suitcases contained cannabis.
He was taken to Customs area where his bags were searched.
Within the large black suitcase, they found a large vacuum-sealed package and three separate small packages containing cannabis.
The drugs weighed one and a-half pounds and are worth $12,000.
Herbert told the officers that the controlled drug was for “personal use”.
The police charged him for the possession and importation of the weed, both of which he admitted to.
Yesterday, the man’s lawyer Wendel Robinson told the court that the accused intended to “enjoy” his vacation here with some friends.
However, Magistrate Conliffe Clarke did not buy that story.
After Robinson begged the magistrate for leniency, 35-year-old Herbert was fined $24,000 which he has a month to pay.