A 24-year-old drug-stash “minder” was “physically retching” when he learned he had been looking after more than a kilo of cocaine buried in woodland at Grands Vaux, the Royal Court heard yesterday.
Jamie Steven Lagadu was jailed for six years and six months after admitting to being concerned in the supply of 1.3kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of between £200,000 and £330,000.
He was also sentenced for refusing to provide the police with the code to unlock his mobile phone and for driving without insurance.
The cocaine, which was found to be 85% pure, had been hidden in two separate woodland locations and recovered during a surveillance-led police operation known as “Operation Astral”.
Advocate Julia-Ann Dix, defending, said her client had no idea of the scale of the drugs operation he had become involved in.
“He did not have detailed knowledge of the amount of cocaine – he had no idea it was 1.3kg, which is why he was physically retching when told of that quantity in the Magistrate’s Court,” she told the court.
The court heard that Lagadu had been recruited by an individual – who he refused to name – to act as a “minder” for two separate cocaine stashes buried in wooded areas around Grands Vaux.
Police first became suspicious after officers observed Lagadu entering woodland behind Morrisons in Grands Vaux on 7 November last year.
After he left, officers discovered a large dig site along with tools including a shovel, pick-axe and garden fork.
Surveillance footage captured Lagadu apparently searching for one buried package with another man.
In audio played to the court, Lagadu said: “Dug it all, dug the whole area up, two days this took.”
A police drug dog later led officers to a zip-lock bag hidden at the base of a tree containing around 410 grams of cocaine.
Then, on 20 November, officers watched Lagadu enter another wooded area near Pillar Gardens carrying a shovel and wearing yellow gloves.
He dug up a second package containing just under a kilogram of cocaine before removing a small amount for himself and reburying the rest.
As he walked away, police arrested him and found 2.6 grams of cocaine and a set of digital scales in his pocket.
In his basis of plea, Lagadu claimed he had merely been asked to check on the drugs and was told he could take “a few grams” of cocaine as payment.
Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor described him as “a trusted minder” operating higher up the supply chain than a courier and called for a seven-year prison sentence.
But Advocate Dix argued that her client was “not a seasoned criminal” and had been exploited because of his vulnerability.
“Mr Lagadu had no financial interest in drugs; at best, he was someone’s gofer,” she said.
She told the court that Lagadu had experienced a traumatic childhood but had nevertheless developed a strong work ethic, supported by positive references from former employers.
“He is not a lost cause; he is a young man still with lots of potential,” she added. “He has the ability to change the trajectory of his life.”
Passing sentence, Bailiff Robert MacRae described Lagadu as someone willing to act as a “warehouseman or storeman” for “a very substantial amount of cocaine”.
“Your early guilty pleas and the mitigation presented by your counsel do enable us to pass a shorter sentence than we otherwise would have done,” he said.
“Nonetheless, we must still impose a significant custodial sentence.”
The Bailiff was sitting with Jurats Karen Le Cornu, Andrew Cornish, Alison Opfermann, Michael Entwistle and Michael Powell.
Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Alasdair Castle said the case demonstrated the Drug Squad’s commitment to tackling the supply of Class A drugs in Jersey.
“Cocaine is now the most prevalent drug encountered by the States of Jersey Police, and disrupting its supply remains a key priority due to the harm it causes across the Island,” he said.
