A Customs and Excise officer who was caught smoking cocaine in a car with a friend has been fined $1,000. Alfred Dookie, 38, attached to Piarco International Airport, was on Monday allowed two weeks to pay the fine or serve three months in prison. His friend, Dereck Sookoo, 50, who was jointly charged with him for possession of cocaine and possession of a cocaine device, was jailed for 12 months.
Sookoo had five previous convictions for similar offences. Both men pleaded guilty when they appeared before San Fernando Sixth Court magistrate Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds. They were caught by PC Keivon Lewis in a parked car smoking cocaine through the device at Circular Road, Pleasantville, on September 28. The cocaine weighed 4.6 grammes. Dookie, represented by attorney Jason Jackson, said he was struggling with depression and had been smoking cocaine over the past year.
Telling him that his profession called for a certain degree of integrity and honesty, the magistrate said he might be fired if his employers found out. She said, however, his employers ought to know so they could help him.
