HAMILTON, Bermuda, Jul 17, CMC – A High Court judge has sentenced a 54-year-old Canadian national to eight and a half years in jail after he pleaded guilty of importing an estimated US$1.9 million worth of marijuana into the British Overseas Territory.
The prosecution had said that Radcliff Brown, 54, from Mississauga, Ontario, had imported the controlled drug into the island on March 13 last year.
The Supreme Court heard that the 19.5 kilograms of cannabis was found hidden in the lining of his baggage and in imposing the jail term, Justice Juan Wolffe said that action needed to be taken to stem the flow of drugs into the island.
“It seems to me that Bermuda is the jurisdiction of convenience for the importation of cannabis, particularly from Canada. A message must be sent, not just to those in Canada but other places, that Bermuda cannot be a place where they can import drugs for no other means but profit at the expense of the health and safety of Bermudians,” the judge said.
The court heard that Brown had arrived here on March 13, 2023 with two matching black suitcases. He told Customs that he was visiting Bermuda to attend a wedding and was scheduled to remain on the island for six days.
Customs officers put one of his bags through an X-ray, which revealed a number of suspicious rectangular objects inside. A search of the bag revealed 20 vacuum-sealed packages hidden within the suitcase’s lining, while even more packages were found in the second suitcase.
Brown told officers that he had packed his own bags, but he said he had no knowledge of the packages or their contents. The court heard that a further search of the suitcases did contain clothing, but no wedding attire.
The court was told that the packages contained a combined 19,556.5 grams of cannabis and had a street value of US$1.95 million.
Attorney Elizabeth Christopher told the court that her client was a businessman who had fallen into financial hardship and was extremely remorseful for his actions.
“He was in a bit of a financial situation and he was asked to do it to alleviate himself from his financial situation. He does feel remorseful for having found himself in the situation that he found himself in,” she said.
Brown also apologised to the court, saying “I’m sorry for what part I played, my selfish actions, and I will continue to be what I truly ought to be”.
He added that he had made promises to less fortunate people whom he believed he could help and that he now hoped he could help others.
But Justice Wolffe said that the jail term suggested by the Crown was at the low end of the spectrum given the quantity of drugs, but it was not unreasonable given Brown’s early guilty plea and lack of previous offences.
But he warned against the trend of large-scale drug importation and that stronger penalties should be considered to hammer home the message abroad that such offences will not be tolerated.
“I hope that in your journey towards rehabilitation that you also help other young men at Westgate to understand that there is an alternative way,” Justice Wolffe added.
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