30 bars of hash were ‘presents for friends’

Saturday 03 December 2016

A man who told Customs officers the 30 bars of cannabis he was trying to smuggle into the Island were ‘presents for friends’ has been sent to prison for 21 months.

29-year-old Nicolae Gavan was stopped at the harbour in August having come by ferry from St Malo.

Officers searched his baggage and found five packages which he claimed were ‘presents for friends’ and then went on to say… “it’s hash”. The three kilogrammes of cannabis resin had a Jersey street value of £58,000.

Gavan told officers he’d picked up the drugs in Rennes in France, and expected to be paid around £5,000 as a ‘reward’ for his role as a courier. He also told officers he didn’t know who the drugs were for. He’d simply been told to give them to a contact outside the Royal Yacht Hotel at midday.

Prosecuting Advocate Chris Baglin told the court Gavan had pleaded guilty at the earliest possibility, had been co-operative, and had no previous similar offences – “financial reward had clouded his judgement”.

Passing sentence, the Deputy Bailiff, Tim Le Cocq, told Gavan the court viewed him as a “trusted courier” and that he had tried to smuggle in a “substantial amount of drugs”, but that the sentence the Crown was asking for was too high.

The court also ordered Gavan be deported after he’s served his sentence.