A French national was nabbed yesterday at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport after it was suspected that he had swallowed cocaine.The man, 22-year-old Agwintie Joel, was an outgoing passenger on a Delta flight back to his homeland.
According to police sources, officers from the Police Narcotics Unit arrested the man after he was observed acting in a suspicious manner.
Joel was arrested and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where an x-ray was conducted and revealed that foreign objects were in his stomach.
At present, the man is a patient at the hospital in ward B2. Only a few weeks back, Jamaican Richard Gayle was taken into custody by the Police Narcotics Unit, under the suspicion that he had swallowed pellets containing cocaine for the intent of trafficking. Gayle was at the time boarding a flight to Trinidad and Tobago. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where X-rays of his abdomen showed several foreign objects in his stomach. Gayle had excreted over 60 cocaine pellets.
Another Jamaican, Errol Barrett, had spent three days at the GPHC before finally excreting the pellets containing the illicit substance. None of the pellets containing the drug ruptured in his stomach.
Over the last few years, several drug mules have died when the pellets containing the drugs they were trafficking burst while still inside of them.
With a number of non-governmental organisations and Ministry of Social Services, claiming that moral values of young adolescents are declining, a 13-year-old from a city school aborted a well-formed fetus in the school toilet, and then discarded the remains in a garbage bin.The teen delivered the fetus on Friday last.
According to information reaching this newspaper, the Third Form student went into the washroom and delivered the baby on the floor.
The source further told Kaieteur News that after delivering the fetus, she then wrapped it in paper and dumped it into the garbage.
The young girl then proceeded back into her classroom and pretended that nothing had happened.
However teachers and students at the school saw the young girl clutching her stomach and crying out in pain. The teachers then called her mother who took her to a city hospital.
When the child’s mother reached at the school she told teachers that her daughter is a “wayward child who listens to no one.” The mother told school officials that her daughter would leave her home and return the next day without giving a proper explanation of her whereabouts.
“This little girl could have died if they didn’t bring her to the hospital because she was bleeding a lot,” a nurse said. A source from the hospital told this newspaper that the teen was just about to finish her first trimester (three-month period).
The nurses opined that that the child may have ingested an illegal drug, which caused her to miscarry. “She had to drink one of those cheap abortion pills to induce labour. Pharmacists should be locked up when things like this happen”.
The nurses further said that even if the teen didn’t buy the “pills” someone older may have given it to her and that person should also be locked up.
Nurses also said that the young girl has a hardened mind to commit such an act. “It takes someone with a lot of guts to throw a baby in a garbage bin and then pretend that nothing happened.”
Efforts to contact Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand proved futile. However, according to a senior officer at the Ministry, they would definitely look into the matter.
The official said that in some instances, the child would not want to give the authorities the male’s name so that they can institute criminal charges against the person.
Reggae artiste, Collie Buddz, is no longer signed to Sony Music's Columbia Records. He had been with the label a little over two years.
Born in New Orleans, Collie Buddz - whose real name is Colin Harper - grew up between Bermuda in the Caribbean and the US.
Released in 2007, his self-titled debut album shot to the top of Billboard's Reggae Album chart. First week sales of the disc was 10,825 copies, which landed it at number 68 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Among the hits the album generated were Come Around (the video directed by Ras Kassa which was shot here in Jamaica), Mamacita and the Black Chiney produced by Blind to You.
Antigua's premier concert series, Sweet Cry Freedom, is re-inventing itself and Guyanese Timeka Marshall is among the acts recruited to make this happen. First staged in 1993 at Jolly Harbor and later moved to St. John's, SCF 2K9 is re-locating to Dow's Hill overlooking Nelson's Dockyard making it more accessible to the yachting crowd.
Of this development Marshall simply stated that she's ecstatic to be sharing the stage on May 1st and 2nd, to provide a "sweet" finish to Antigua Sailing Week.
The genres tapped range from rock to house, surf to blues, mixed with steel pan, reggae, zouk and soca to add a bit of island flavour.
The line-up includes Third World, one of reggae's most enduring bands; Tessanne Chin, who blends reggae, dancehall and rock; Antigua's Calvin 'Fuzzy' Samuels, an instrumentalist for many years with Crosby Stills Nash and Young; surf music exponents, Wadadli Riders; and a who's who of island DJs – Renegade Int'l, Stone Wall, Woody, and Chickie – spinning the hottest tunes.
The Sweet Cry Festival Antigua, a Behanzin Entertainment Production, is poised to re-gain its place as one of the region's best music festivals having previously earned this reputation built on quality.
With the top drawer entertainment contracted and its commitment to safety – a US$2 donation will go to CRIMESTOPPERS from every ticket sold - Sweet Cry Festival Antigua will truly be a fitting climax to another exciting Caribbean Racing Series.
Timeka's 'all night' song is ranked number 7 on the RE TV charts and her single Titled Hush is making rounds on several charts in London making. She has completed filming the music video with Petah Morgan (Lead singer of the Morgan Heritage family) and has also completed recording a single with Busy signal that is to be released shortly.
The artiste who started her career after winning the inaugural GT&T Jingle competition who is currently in Jamaica working on several projects is expected back in Guyana to play a major role in the GT&T Jingle and song competition this year.
