In a high-profile drug-related case concluded at the Serious Offences Court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, two 31-year-old men from neighboring Saint Lucia, Kerry Edwards and McGavin Willie, have been handed substantial fines for multiple narcotics violations, local media has confirmed.
The pair faced three separate criminal charges: possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, cross-border drug trafficking, and illegal importation of banned narcotics. The charges stemmed from a coordinated police operation that uncovered nearly 25 kilograms of illicit cannabis products in their possession, authorities confirmed.
The investigation began when law enforcement officers received intelligence and set up a surveillance operation targeting a blue shipping container at the New Kingstown Port. After monitoring the container’s movement, officers followed a delivery truck carrying the barrel to a private residential property in the Arnos Vale neighborhood. Once the container was dropped off at the home, police secured a formal search warrant before moving in to surround the property.
Upon entering the residence, officers caught Edwards and Willie red-handed in the kitchen, unpacking items from the container and spreading them across the floor. A systematic search of the container revealed multiple sealed packages hidden inside cereal boxes, with some holding cannabis and others holding cannabis resin, also known as hashish. Further searches of the property uncovered an additional 77 hidden packages of hashish, stashed in peanut butter jars, between bedsheets, inside more cereal boxes, and within a storage mop box. In total, authorities seized 20,974 grams of cannabis resin and an extra 3,632 grams of cannabis, bringing the total seizure to almost 25 kilograms.
When detained and questioned, the two Saint Lucians claimed they were simply on vacation in the island nation, and insisted they had no knowledge that the container held illegal drugs. They told investigators that a third party had dropped off the barrel and asked them to sort through its contents, denying any involvement in the drug operation. Records show the pair had only arrived in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on October 8, just days before the bust.
Following their conviction, both Edwards and Willie were ordered to pay individual fines of EC$32,660. The court issued a clear warning: if the pair are unable to pay the imposed fines within the required period, they will be sentenced to three years of imprisonment instead.