Dutch defendant’s hospitalisation sets cocaine case back to July 15
Published:Wednesday | June 26, 2024 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The St James Parish Court has set July 15 as the next mention date for Patrick Crawford, the Dutch national who allegedly tried to smuggle $28.3 million worth of cocaine through Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport on May 9, as he has been hospitalised due to illness.
Presiding judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton set the new date in relation to Crawford, who was absent from the court proceedings, following an application by his attorney Henry McCurdy when the matter was called up on Monday.
Crawford, a 44-year-old carpenter of a Rotherdam, Holland address, is charged with possession of, dealing in, and attempting to export 13.5 pounds of cocaine.
The court was advised that Crawford, who first appeared before the court on May 17, was taken to the hospital for medical treatment on Monday morning, hours before his latest court hearing was scheduled to take place.
Notably, during Crawford’s previous court appearance on June 10, an application had been made by McCurdy for his client to be taken for medical treatment for a toothache and other ailments. At that time, Crawford had also alleged that his requests to the police to be taken to the doctor had fallen on deaf ears, and that his concerns about the conditions of the cell block were not being addressed.
It was also disclosed on Monday that the forensic certificate and a corroborating officer’s statement were still outstanding from the prosecution’s case file.
Following further discussions, Fairclough-Hylton set the matter for mention on July 15, as per McCurdy’s request for a date in that month.
According to the allegations, on May 9, about 5 p.m., Crawford attempted to board a flight to Brussels, Belgium, at the Sangster International Airport.
While checking in to board the flight, Crawford was approached and spoken to by Narcotics personnel, following which his luggage was searched. The cocaine was then reportedly found in false compartments inside his luggage, and Crawford was arrested for breaching the Dangerous Drugs Act.
Crawford’s case is one of several cocaine-related matters to come before the St James Parish Court recently. The court has also had numerous high-profile cases on its docket over the years.
In several of those cases, defendants have reportedly been involved in trafficking millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine, to the extent that concerns have been voiced about St James being a haven for drug trafficking.
During a Gleaner interview on the issue of drug trafficking last Wednesday, while acknowledging the security forces’ efforts to halt the flow of drugs through Jamaica’s ports of entry, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang noted that more needs to be done to disrupt narcotics trafficking operations and protect the integrity of the ports. He stated too that new initiatives to further discourage drug smugglers from using Jamaica’s airports are to be examined.
Chang’s declaration came roughly one month after assertions from Superintendent Dwight Daley, the head of the Narcotics Police, that the authorities have been keeping a close watch on Jamaica’s ports which are being used by international drug traffickers, as part of efforts to ensure the ports are not exploited for that purpose.