Duo jailed, fined over $19M for cocaine trafficking

Two men were found guilty last week on separate narcotics possession charges and were sentenced to three and four years of imprisonment respectively, topped with millions in fines. The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) stated that Khaled Perez appeared before Magistrate Dylon Bess at the Diamond Magistrates’ Court last Friday and was found guilty of trafficking 11.502 kilograms (kg) of cocaine.

As such, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and fined $17,253,000. This case originated from a December 2023 operation at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD), during which a vehicle was intercepted with 10 parcels of cocaine. It was reported that Perez, of Mon Desir, Canal No. 2, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was on a route #31 minibus when it was intercepted by CANU ranks. The 10 brick-like parcels with narcotics tested positive for cocaine. At the time, the street value was estimated at $12 million.

Meanwhile, Prewein Roepa appeared before Magistrate Hardy at the Springlands Magistrates’ Court after he was initially charged with having 1.2 kg of cocaine in his possession.

As such, he was found guilty and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, along with a fine of $1,752,000. This case, nevertheless, originated from a September 2025 operation in Skeldon, Backtrack, Corentyne, Berbice, during which CANU officers found one brick-like parcel of cocaine weighing 1.2 kilograms in a bag he was carrying.