Maria Amakali
Windhoek-The defence lawyer representing the Angolan national who stands accused of having swallowed cocaine pellets in an attempt to smuggle them into the country has questioned whether the lab results are of his client.
Lawyer Garth Joseph informed the court that the lab results that confirmed the oval plastic-coated pellets contained cocaine, might not be of his client as there is a dispute over the total number of pellets that were excreted by his client and handed in for analysis.
Joao Huyeye, 41, is on trial in the Windhoek Regional Court in Katutura for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs in his digestive system.
According to the prosecution, Huyeye excreted 121 cocaine pellets weighing 847 grams with a street value of N$423,500. He faces a charge of drug trafficking.
The Angolan national was in transit from Sao Paulo, Brazil via South Africa and Namibia to Angola when the Namibian police stopped him at Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA).
Huyeye, who made an appearance from custody, was denied bail as the state feared he might abscond to his native country and not stand trial.
The state has indicated that the number of cocaine pellets attained from the accused were 121 in total – however during cross-examination police officer Lukas Lukas counted a total number of 131 pellets from the photo plan handed to him.
“You can’t possibly say that the exhibits that you handed in were the same ones that were excreted by my client, since the numbers do not add up. Which means that whatever you handed in for analysis was not what was excreted by the accused,” argued Joseph.
Lukas informed the court that he handed in what he got from his colleagues and he trusts that they did a good job in handling the exhibits.
State prosecutor Fillemon Nyau explained that the defence team had not disputed the evidence that Huyeye released pellets from December 12 – 13, 2016.
“The total number of ‘bullets’ were 121, of which the accused signed off as proof that such substances came from his body,” said Nyau.
With the state having closed its case, Joseph informed the court that his client will take a vow of silence and they only have one witness to take the stand.