In a surprising development from Antigua’s V.C. Bird International Airport, all drug trafficking charges against a Canadian woman caught with 67 pounds of cannabis have been formally withdrawn by legal authorities, with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) citing unspecified medical factors as the core reason for the decision. The case, which drew attention due to the unusually large seizure of controlled substance, has come to an abrupt end following the DPP’s formal instruction to prosecuting teams to discontinue all legal action against the defendant, identified only as Crisostomo.
Crisostomo had arrived at the Caribbean island’s main international gateway on an Air Canada flight originating from Toronto, and had previously signaled her intent to enter a guilty plea to the charges brought against her. Given the substantial volume of cannabis recovered by law enforcement, legal officials had initially scheduled the matter for expedited committal proceedings, designed to move high-stakes drug cases quickly through the court system.
Law enforcement estimates placed the total street value of the seized cannabis at approximately 536,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars, marking one of the larger drug seizures processed through the airport’s customs and policing units in recent months. No additional details about the specific medical circumstances that prompted the DPP’s decision have been released to the public, leaving court observers and local law enforcement stakeholders with little additional context for the abrupt end to the prosecution.