The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

A POLICE officer testified yesterday in the drug trial of three men who were allegedly caught in waters off South Andros with more than $1m worth of marijuana.

Howard Ednel Rolle, Clyde Dawkins and Pizzario Alvon Brennen all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney.

The three men were caught on a boat on May 3, 2019, with $1,627,000 worth of marijuana they allegedly had planned to sell.

While giving testimony yesterday, Sergeant Pratt told the court on the day of the arrests he and other officers boarded police boat 14 at about 3.30am. They were acting on information they had received on the police radio to intercept a 27-foot white speed boat with twin engines occupied by three male suspects in waters off South Andros. They soon saw the boat speeding towards them when the officer turned the police lights and siren on, causing the suspects’ vessel to flee in the opposite direction.

A short chase followed, but the suspects were later caught with the assistance of a US Coast Guard helicopter, the court was told.

Sgt Pratt said when he and other officers boarded the vessel, they positively identified Rolle as the captain, Brennen as the owner of the vessel and Dawkins as a passenger.

The officers then visited a location in the water where the suspects had allegedly tossed 43 sacks with suspected marijuana, weighing 1,627 pounds. Officers also recovered a black Nike bag with an assortment of clothes and Brennen’s NIB card inside.

During cross-examination, attorneys representing Dawkins and Rolle asked the officer if he remembered what the suspects said immediately after the drugs were found.

The witness said he could not recall.

The officer was also asked if he knew how long the drugs were floating in the water, to which he could not give a definite answer.

The attorneys suggested there was no way to positively determine if the drugs had ever come from their clients’ vessel at all.

However, when he gave testimony, DC Ferguson, who was aboard the US Coast Guard helicopter during the operation, said he saw the accused toss suspicious packages off the side of the vessel.

He said during covert surveillance of the suspects in the air while wearing night vision goggles, he observed one of the occupants of the suspect vessel toss sacks into the ocean.

DC Ferguson said he deployed a flare in the water near the suspected sacks before joining the chase with police boat 14 which helped officers locate the drugs after the chase. He also confirmed to the prosecution that there were no other vessels in the area at the time.

This led to a defence attorney suggesting to the prosecution that DC Ferguson couldn’t possibly pay attention to other vehicles in the area if he was involved in the pursuit of his client’s vessel. He also stood by the idea that the drugs could have floated from anywhere.

The trial was adjourned to April 26.