There has been no report yet on the probe concerning cocaine pellets surgically removed from a man's stomach at St Augustine Private Hospital in December 2013, National Security Minister Gary Griffith said yesterday.He was replying in Parliament to a query from PNM MP Dr Amery Browne. Hospital staff were questioned by police, in con��nection with surgery conducted on the man from whose abdomen 17 cocaine pellets were removed.
The cocaine was found in the man's stomach packaged into pellets, it was reported in January. However, the hospital had failed to contact the authorities after the surgery was performed and the narcotic was handed back to the man. Griffith said the matter was still with the Commissioner of Police and he had not yet received a report.
On another question, Griffith said police statistics showed that between January 2010 and the present, 1,187 people were arrested and charged with importing, trafficking and distribution of cocaine. Most of them–1,094–were charged for cocaine possession. The total weight of the cocaine involved was 3,593 kilogrammes with a total street value for that period of $1.6 billion. People held were from T&T, Canada, the US and UK.