By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
A 24-YEAR-OLD man who smuggled $100,000 worth of cocaine into the country last year was fined $75,000 yesterday as part of a plea deal.
Cohen Sands, a former pilot, was accused last year of being in possession of 12.5 pounds of cocaine with intent to supply and conspiring with others to possess and import the drugs into The Bahamas.
The charges stem from a drug seizure at Lynden Pindling International Airport on December 22, 2021.
Police said sometime around 3pm that day, detectives from the Drug Enforcement Unit along with United States officials at LPIA conducted a search of Sands who had just arrived from Haiti.
While searching, officers found several packages containing suspected cocaine.
Police said Sands was arrested, taken to the DEU and then later charged.
During his first appearance before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle- Davis last year, Sands denied the allegations.
However, he pleaded guilty to all the offences after entering a plea deal with the Crown prosecutor yesterday.
The deal requires Sands to pay a total of $75,000. Sands will pay $20,000 as a first payment and make remaining monthly instalments of $7,500 until the balance is paid in full.
However, if he doesn’t pay the money, he will spend two years at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
Sands will return to court on June 21. He is represented by attorney Ryszard Humes.
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