Man gets three months in jail for importing small amounts of drugs

Sunday 22 October 2017

A 29-year-old man who arrived in Jersey with 8mg of methadone and a single tramadol tablet is to be deported at the end of a three-month prison sentence, the Magistrate's Court has decided.

Andre Tiago Caldeira Freitas was travelling to Jersey from Madeira for the first time when he was stopped by Customs Officers at Jersey Airport on 5 October.

The Court heard that he was looking for employment and that he had no money. He also admitted being a methadone user and confessed he had used cocaine and heroin two days before travelling. When the officers asked him if he had any methadone on him he said it was in his pocket, in a inhaler. Officers found 8g of the Class A drug, worth £60, as well as a tablet of tramadol. 

Advocate Jane Grace, who was defending Freitas, explained that he had only imported a very small amount of methadone for his personal use. She told Court that Freitas had put the drug in the inhaler not to conceal it but for ease of administration. She also explained that the tramadol tablet was an old one, which had been prescribed by a doctor to treat a tooth abscess two years ago. She added that Freitas wasn't aware that methadone was illegal in Jersey as it is legal in Madeira to possess a small amount of the drug. She said: "If he had realised it was illegal in Jersey he wouldn’t have imported it." 

She argued that the two weeks Freitas had spent in custody before his court appearance were "sufficient to mark the seriousness of the offence."

Advocate Chris Baglin told Court that there was a detriment to Freitas remaining in the island's community. He said that his admission he had used other class A drugs in the days before travelling was a "clear indicator he is addicted to heroin," adding that heroin use is often associated with other offending. 

Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said that the quantities involved were small but that the principle of the importation of class A drugs being illegal remained. He said: "The message has to get out that if you import class A drugs into Jersey you risk a custodial sentence." He therefore sentenced Freitas to three months in prison.

Speaking of a deportation order against Freitas, the Assistant Magistrate said: "His continued presence would be detrimental to public good." He then signed a recommendation for deportation from the island which will take effect at the end of Freitas' prison sentence.