Dutchman busted for cocaine smuggling gets nine months in prison
· The GleanerWESTERN BUREAU:
Patrick Crawford, the Dutch national who was convicted for attempting to smuggle cocaine out of Jamaica via the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James, on May 9, was sentenced to nine months in prison in the St James Parish Court yesterday.
Crawford, a 44-year-old carpenter of a Rotterdam address in Holland, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of, dealing in, and attempting to export cocaine on July 25.
During Crawford’s sentencing hearing, presiding parish judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton rejected defence attorney Henry McCurdy’s recommendation that the defendant should be fined and allowed to return to The Netherlands, saying that a fine would not be a sufficient deterrent for other potential cocaine smugglers.
“I have no difficulty imposing financial sanctions in matters that deserve financial sanctions. When it comes to matters such as these, what would be the point in imposing a financial sanction that the accused can just pay and then leave? What would be the deterrent? If I impose a fine of $500,000, how does it deter other persons from coming to Jamaica and committing these offences? The fact is, it does not,” said Fairclough-Hylton.
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“While it might deter him [Crawford], I have to impose a sentence that deters others so that they do not see Jamaica as this haven where they can come and export cocaine and make big bucks off it. Almost every week I have someone coming before me for trying to depart from the airport with cocaine, and what that signifies is that persons are seeing our border as one where they can take a chance,” Fairclough-Hylton added.
Crawford was subsequently sentenced to serve nine months in prison for possession of cocaine, nine months for dealing in cocaine, and nine months for attempting to export cocaine. The sentences are to run concurrently.
False compartments inside luggage
About 5:00 p.m. on May 9, Crawford attempted to board a flight to Brussels, Belgium. While checking in, he was approached and spoken to by narcotics personnel, following which his luggage was searched and the cocaine found in false compartments inside his luggage.
In a recent Sunday Gleaner article, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie recommended that foreigners who plead guilty or are tried and found guilty of cocaine smuggling should pay heavy fines instead of serving mandatory custodial sentences in Jamaica since keeping them in custody locally may not be sustainable.
Cocaine cases involving both foreigners and locals have featured prominently in the St James Parish Court over the years, including eight defendants brought to court in separate cases relating to a combined $100 million worth of the drug in May 2023 alone. The issue has resulted in concern about St James becoming a flashpoint for drug trafficking.