Multimillion-dollar cocaine case set for November 3

Western Bureau:

The long-anticipated trial against a former Guardsman employee and another St James man, who are before the St James Parish Court on cocaine charges, has been pushed back to November 3 to facilitate one of the defendants giving further instructions to his lawyer. The defendants, former security company employee Owen Glaze, and his co-accused, Andrew Brown, are charged with possession of, dealing in, taking steps to export, and trafficking 66 kilogrammes of cocaine, which was reportedly found in the service vehicle in which they were travelling in on April 20, 2013. Their bails were extended following their latest court appearance yesterday.

Presiding Magistrate Natalie Hart-Hines gave the new return date and extended the men's bails after attorney-at-law Dionne Maylor, who is newly representing Glaze, informed the court that she needed time to take instructions from her client.

"There is a caution statement that my client was alleged to have made ... I would need time to speak to my client about that," attorney Maylor told Hart-Hines, while also indicating she needed to be served with other documents.

"The matter is set for November 3, their bails are extended, and the investigating officer is bound over," Hart-Hines replied, following further deliberations.

According to the allegations, Glaze and Brown were travelling along the Mount Carey main road in St James, when their vehicle was stopped and searched in an operation conducted by officers from the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, the Transnational Crime and Narcotics Division, and the Jamaica Defence Force.

During the search, the cocaine, valued approximately J$264 million, was found, and the men were subsequently arrested and charged.

Since the defendants' arrest and charge, a number of trial dates have been set, dating back to as far as July 8, 2014. However, on each occasion, the matter was put off for varying reasons.