A foreign used car dealer from D’Abadie, who was charged with importing 440 kilos of marijuana in a shipment of cars and auto parts almost a decade ago, is suing the State for almost $1 million in compensation for malicious prosecution.
Testifying before Justice Frank Seepersad in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday, Richard Ramkissoon, of Ramkissoon and Sons Parts Express Limited, claimed that he, his father Rattan and brother Mohan were charged by officers of the Customs and Excise Division even though they pointed out that the shipping container had been tampered with before they received it on July 23, 2007.
Ramkissoon said that the shipping tag on the container differed from the documents sent by his supplier in Japan by one character and that he informed the officers of this before they opened it and found the drugs.
The Ramkissoons were charged almost 17 months after the discovery was made, but the charge was eventually dismissed in 2011 after the officers repeatedly failed to attend court hearings.
While under cross examination by State attorneys, Ramkissoon claimed that his brother was present in Japan when the containers were packed and sealed.
Asked why his brother was not called upon to testify in the trial, Ramkissoon said that he had since migrated to take care of their ailing mother.
Ramkissoon explained that all shipments from Japan are first taken to Jamaica before being placed on smaller vessels for transport to other Caribbean islands.
In his evidence, Customs and Excise officer Kerrol Murray claimed that the charge under Section 213 of the Customs Act was a strict liability offence which did not require that they knew that the drugs were in the container to be guilty.
Murray claimed to have questioned the Ramkissoon’s shipping agent over the discrepancy with the tags but admitted that he did not make notes of his investigation over the issue.
“Even the shipping agent could not explain it,” Murray said.
Murray claimed that the Ramkissoons remained silent when the drugs were found although he admitted that they immediately denied knowledge of it when questioned by officers of the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit (OCIU) during a simultaneous search of the container.
Constable Gerard Critchlow of the OCIU, was also called as a State witness and admitted that his unit was unable to charge the Ramkissoons due to insufficient evidence.
“We could not charge them under the Dangerous Drugs Act because they had no knowledge,” Critchlow said.
He admitted that the Ramkissoons’ case was not unique as he was familiar with several others where drugs were placed in shipping containers without local importers’ knowledge, whilst in transit in Jamaica.
In addition to damages for damage to their reputation, the family is seeking the $225,000 in legal fees they paid to defend the criminal charge and over $500,000 in compensation, which represents the value of the five cars and auto parts which formed part of their shipment.
The entire shipment of seven containers was impounded after the discovery was made and was only returned in 2012 after the case was dismissed. They are claiming that due to the length of time that had passed, they were unable to sell any of the returned cars and parts.
The Ramkissoons are being represented by Jagdeo Singh and Kiel Tacklalsingh.
Seepersad is scheduled to deliver judgement in the case on February 19.