Customs Broker's Behavior Raises Concerns Prior to Drug Discovery, Witness Testifies

Witness tells court customs broker seemed anxious before drug discovery

State witness Heather Scotland-Jones recalled that customs broker Corrie Brathwaite appeared “anxious” and “nervous” as he went to collect a shipping container, which was later discovered to contain hundreds of pounds of cannabis 11 years ago.

Brathwaite 44, of Dash Valley, St George and Dwight Anderson Michael Clarke, 45, of Mangrove, St Philip, are charged with the importation, possession and trafficking of 664 pounds of the controlled drug on September 3, 2012.

Taking the witness stand in Supreme Court No. 4 on Thursday, Scotland-Jones said that her son, who resides in Canada, had informed her weeks before the incident that he was sending her furniture via a shipping container and that Brathwaite, a customs broker, was in charge of it.

She contacted Brathwaite and he told her that once the container arrived, September 3, 2012 would be the scheduled opening date. Scotland-Jones called him again, a week after that initial conversation, and he told her he was going on a business trip and his partner Dwight Clarke would be in charge of looking after the container.

Weeks went by without her hearing from the customs broker, and she reached out to him again when he informed her that “enforcement” had an interest in items from the container.

“I had not heard anything for a while, and I called him back again and asked him ‘What was going on?’ and that ‘Ever since you were telling me that the furniture would be coming to my home; I have not seen furniture or container, nor have I heard anything about them’. He then said, ‘Do not worry about nothing’ and that he was in charge and when the container is opened, he will take the items to his warehouse, put them on a truck and send them to me,” she said.

Scotland-Jones testified that Brathwaite contacted her one morning, telling her to head to the Bridgetown Port to fill out documents to release the container. She questioned this, as she had no information about the container. However, Brathwaite told her to meet him there.

Scotland-Jones headed to the port and was informed by a worker that she could not fill out any paperwork and that Brathwaite would have to come, and to call him. She did so, and he showed up a few minutes later and filled out the documents.

Scotland-Jones then got into his vehicle and they headed towards the container.

“While we were going, I saw Mr Brathwaite looking suspiciously nervous and anxious about something. I was sitting in the front seat next to him, and he started to talk to himself….He mentioned about seeing a police van. When we got close to the container, I saw a whole heap of vehicles come surrounding Mr Brathwaite’s vehicle, and they said to get out,” she told the court.

Scotland-Jones said one of the officers spoke to Brathwaite and took him over to the container. She followed and stood next to it and observed the customs broker attempting to use his phone, and an officer, after warning him, took the phone away.

The witness told the nine-member jury and Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell that when the lock was broken and the container was opened, “a weird smell” came from it, and she saw duffel bags and a suitcase right at the front of the container. Asked by an officer whether she knew what the packages were, she responded in the negative. She said Brathwaite was asked the same question but she told the court she could not recall his answer.

Scotland-Jones said an officer cut open one package and saw the cannabis inside.

She was later taken to the Oistins Police Station to give a statement.

Asked by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC whether she had arranged with her son to ship marijuana into the country, Scotland-Jones replied: “No, Sir”.

She testified that she was never arrested in the matter.

During the cross-examination by Ralph Thorne SC, who is representing the accused men in association with attorney-at-law Emerald Griffith, Scotland-Jones said after giving her initial statement on the day of the incident, she was called back to review it but could not recall when it had happened or the name of the officer that took the statements.

The trial was adjourned until November 1, 2023.