Chaguanas labourer cleared of 2015 cocaine-trafficking charge

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A Chaguanas labourer charged with cocaine trafficking in 2015 has had the case dismissed by an Arima magistrate after the police officer who laid the charge repeatedly failed to attend court.

On January 26, Magistrate Wendy Dougdeen-Bally dismissed the case against Floyd Braithwaite for want of prosecution, citing persistent non-compliance by the prosecution with the court’s directions.

In brief reasons, Dougdeen-Bally noted that the charging officer, PC Akeil Lee, failed to appear on consecutive occasions and offered no reasonable explanation for his absence. She also pointed out that there had been no further disclosure of evidence to the defence more than four and a half months after the last disclosure, and that witness statements remained unsworn.

“The matter is ten years old, and there has been no advancement of the prosecution’s case,” the magistrate said.

Although the defence was ready to proceed with the trial on January 26, Dougdeen-Bally said there were no witnesses present, and the prosecution was therefore unable to move forward.

In submissions seeking his client’s discharge, attorney Bhimal Maharajh argued that the statements did not comply with the requirements of the Summary Courts Act. He further submitted that the Criminal Procedure Rules empowered the court to dismiss the matter, particularly due to the prolonged and unnecessary delays.

According to the prosecution’s case, PC Lee was on patrol duty at the Piarco International Airport around 3.50 pm on August 17, 2015, when he observed a woman checking in at the first-class counter to board a BW flight to Barbados. After identifying himself, Lee took the woman’s suitcase to the OCNFB office for a search.

Nothing was initially found, but cocaine was later discovered concealed in the side lining of the suitcase. The woman claimed that a man on the same flight had given her the drugs.

She was arrested, and the male passenger was subsequently approached. He denied knowing the woman but was also arrested. A search of his belongings revealed cash in Trinidad and Tobago, US and Barbados currency, and his vehicle, parked at the airport, was also searched.

The woman later alleged that the man had switched her Gucci suitcase with another containing the drugs, which comprised three vacuum-sealed packets of cocaine.

Search warrants were later executed at their homes in Chaguanas and Diego Martin. The total weight of the exhibits was 1,088 grammes, while the cocaine itself weighed 65.04 grammes, according to a certificate of analysis from the Forensic Science Centre.

The 2015 charge had recently been relied upon by prosecutors in objecting to bail for Braithwaite on a fresh cocaine-trafficking charge laid in October 2025.

Police prosecutors argued that Braithwaite had a pending matter dating back to 2015 when he appeared before a High Court master. While Master Whitney Franklin ruled that he fell within section 5(3)(b) of the amended Bail Act, having regard to his prior record and the seriousness of the offence, she found that sufficient cause had been shown to justify bail.

Bail was granted for $5 million with a surety.

Braithwaite is also represented by attorney Kavita Moonasar.