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A London-based e-scooter fixer agreed to bring heroin worth up to £40,000 to Jersey after he was threatened with being shot and having his shop burnt down when one of the electric vehicles was stolen from his workshop.
Fabio Candido Simoes (35) was this morning sentenced to six years' imprisonment by the Royal Court over the smuggling attempt.
The Royal Court heard that Simoes was told that the debt over the stolen scooter would be forgiven so long as he brought 61.32 grams of heroin to Jersey.
Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, described how Simoes came to Jersey on 22 June this year.
When stopped, he told Customs officers at Elizabeth Terminal that he was in Jersey for meetings with local e-scooter suppliers and was due to stay with a man he didn't know called 'Fred'.
But officers became suspicious because his story was inconsistent, and he admitted previously using cannabis.
The local business he mentioned told Customs officers that they didn't have any meetings planned with him. Candido Simoes then changed his story to say he was on holiday and was planning on "popping into" the business.
He was taken to the Hospital for X-Rays and admitted to customs officers in interview: "I've not been honest with you, I do have something inside me. It's heroin and it's 63 grams, I think. I just want to get it out."
The package of heroin turned out to contain 61.32 grams of the drug, at a purity of 18%.
Crown Advocate Taylor said that, if sold in Jersey in one-gram amounts, this would be worth between £21,000 and £27,000.
Pictured: The heroin Candido Simoes was trying to import into Jersey rectally.
Broken down further into 0.1 gram portions, it could be worth between £30,000 and £40,000.
When interviewed, he told Customs officers that he owned an e-scooter workshop in London and that a customer had come in with a £3,000 e-scooter.
The scooter was subsequently stolen from his workshop – and the customer threatened to be violent towards Candido Simoes if he didn't pay for the scooter.
Candido Simoes said the customer had then introduced him to a second man, who threatened to shoot Candido Simoes and burn his shop down, unless he brought the heroin to Jersey.
Candido Simoes booked a ferry for the following day, and travelled to Jersey on the ferry from Poole.
Crown Advocate Taylor asked the court for a six-year sentence and a deportation order.
Advocate Sarah Dale, defending, told the court that Candido Simoes "stands here and feels the greatest regret".
In a letter to the court, he had said he had seen how heroin can ruin people's lives.
She further argued that even though the court doesn't normally take threats into account in mitigation, on this occasion, the threats were not related to drugs or a drugs debt. Simoes did, however, get credit for an early guilty plea and for cooperating with Customs and Immigration.
The Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae, told him: "You say that you agreed to import heroin into Jersey by the reason of threats that you received, which have been detailed to us this morning. That is no mitigation and there are good policy reasons for the court holding that to be the case.
"Heroin is a pernicious and extremely dangerous drug.
"In your letter to the court, you recognise that heroin 'robs people of their lives'."
Candido Simoes was sentenced to 6 years in prison and served a deportation order.
The Deputy Bailiff was presiding along with Jurats Ronge, Dulake, Averty, Le Heuzé, and Entwistle.
Following the sentencing, Paul Le Monnier, Senior Manager at Jersey Customs and Immigration Service, said: “Heroin use, and addiction causes huge amounts of harm and misery and it’s important that we prevent these dangerous drugs from reaching our streets.”
Anyone with information on drug smuggling is urged to report it anonymously to Customs and Immigration via 0800 735 5555.
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