Five years in jail for man who imported 27g cocaine

Wednesday 29 July 2020

A 37-year-old man has been handed a five-year prison sentence after he smuggled 27.65g of high purity cocaine internally into the island.

Danny Jones had attempted to bring the drugs into the island on 16 January, but he was stopped by a Customs Officer at the airport.

Summing the facts of the case ahead of the sentencing yesterday, Crown Advocate Chris Baglin told the Royal Court that Jones initially denied bringing anything to the island.

He said he had come to Jersey for one day to meet a friend about a job, but couldn’t recall the name of the hotel he planned to stay at.

Pictured: Jones was stopped by a Custom Officer at the airport after arriving from Liverpool.

The Customs Officer noticed that Jones’ hands were trembling as he looked for his hotel booking on his phone. 

When officers told Jones they would have to carry out a urine test, he admitted it might show traces of cannabis, MDMA and cocaine but the test returned a positive result for the latter only.  

It was only after being arrested on suspicion of importing controlled drugs that Jones told officers he was carrying a package containing about 15g of cocaine internally.

Analysis of the package showed there was 27.65g of white powder cocaine, with 81% purity.

Pictured: The Customs' drugs expert said that the drugs could have been worth up to £14,000.

The Customs drugs expert, Jason Harrison, said that if sold at street level without adulteration as 1g deals, the drugs would have a value of between £3,300 and £4,100. If adulterated and sold locally in street-level deals of 1g, the street value would be between £9,000 and £14,000.

Jones later told officers he had a drug debt of about £2,500/£3,000 and that he had imported the drugs to cancel out the debt upon his dealer’s request. 

He denied having imported drugs into the island the previous week, explaining he had been in Jersey looking for work.

The Court heard that while Jones had no previous drug trafficking convictions, he had been convicted of cocaine possession on three occasions.  

The Crown Advocate reminded the Court that couriers play an important part in the drugs trade and moved for a sentence of five-and-a-half years.

Pictured: Advocate Luke Sette was representing Jones.

Advocate Luke Sette told the Court that during Jones’ formative years, he and his family had faced a great deal of adversity and that he had resorted to drugs and alcohol to deal with his circumstances.

He went on to say that Jones now sees his substance misuse in a different light and no longer wanted to see his life and that of others “marred with those substances”.

Advocate Sette said Jones had come to Jersey to leave his old life behind and intended to find work in the island. However, he said his client had succumbed to the pressures of his drug dealer and agreed to act as a courier. 

“He was not thinking clearly at the time he agreed to do it,” the defence lawyer said, adding that life events had taken their toll on Jones and his emotional wellbeing.

He went on to say Jones was sincerely sorry for his actions and had used his time in custody well, completing an English and Maths course as well as working in the workshop, reading, meditating and learning Spanish. 

Pictured: The Bailiff described the quantity of drugs imported by Jones as commercial.

The case was heard by the Bailiff Tim Le Cocq, who was sitting with Jurats Anthony Olsen, Charles Blampied and Kim Averty.

The Bailiff described the quantity of drugs imported by Jones as commercial, noting the very high purity of the powder. 

He noted that Jones didn’t have the benefit of a good record and had indirectly benefited from the importation as it was meant to pay off a drugs debt.

He said the Court felt the difficulties Jones had experienced in his early life and adult years were of “considerable significance”.

The Bailiff also noted Jones's positive references, which he said painted “a picture of better aspects of you”.

While he said the Court accepted Jones’ genuine desire to change his ways, the Bailiff said his was a serious offence that must be met with “appropriate punishment”.

He subsequently handed down the five-year sentence and also made a token confiscation order for £1.